Moonrise
by VampireGirl1313
Summary: A Twilight story: Renesmee returns to Forks with her family when she is physically 17 years old. She attends the same high school as her parents, hoping to finally live her life with others. Except, she gets more than she bargained for. Enjoy!
1. Return

**1. Return**

I stared at the ocean as the small, warm waves lapped at the dock. "Mama," I muttered knowing full well that she could hear me.

She was right next to me in an instant. "Yeah, baby?" she asked with her soothing wind chime like voice.

"I think… I'm not ready for this."

"Ready for what? "

"I don't know…" I muttered.

She pouted, "Do I need to call Edward over here?"

"What am I needed for, love?" My gorgeous father also appeared in a fraction of a second.

"Nothing yet, but I'm pretty sure she wanted you here too," both of my parents shared a glance, so saturated with love that I found it nearly impossible to not smile.

I stifled a giggle. "Okay. You caught me. I'm nervous! I start high school in _Forks_ in just a _week_! I know we took this vacation to relax, but I'm still freaking out!"

"What's there to be scared of?" my mother asked skeptically.

"What if they don't like me…?" I knew that I sounded incredibly childish, worrying about if the townspeople would like me or not, but I did have a reason. I wasn't a human, but I wasn't a vampire, either. I was _half_ of each. How could they accept me? I knew that humans prized normality, and I was the farthest thing possible from normal.

Even though I had all of the seductive abilities of a vampire, I still worried that I would be slightly excluded like my family was. So childish.

"Do you really think that there is anyone in the world that could possibly _not love _you?" my father asked, somehow joking and serious at the same time.

"Well —_'_"

I was cut off by my mother's voice. "The answer is 'no'!" her voice changed from playful to serious, "Renesmee, baby, they're all going to _love_ you. Don't ever think that they wont." She paused and continued lightly, "I survived my move to Forks didn't I? Wait. Don't answer that." I laughed.

"Okay, okay. You convinced me. I guess I'll pull through, somehow."

My father joined the conversation again, "Ness–," my mother shot him a cross glance, "Renensmee, dinner's ready if you want. Spaghetti."

Triumph. I knew I smelled marinara sauce and pasta. I eagerly got up and bolted into the house, my parents a few feet behind.

I snatched a plate from the dish rack and loaded it with pasta and garlic bread; I was ravenously hungry.

Both my parents sat with me at the small table and waited for me to finish eating. We sat in silence — excluding my fervent chewing — for a few minutes. By the time I had finished half of my pile of food on my plate my mother spoke, "Do you need to get anything from Denali before we go back?"

"Um… Who's meeting us at the airport again?" I asked.

This time my father answered, "Alice, Jasper, Esme, and Carlisle, according to the latest plans. Rose and Emmett are on yet _another_ honeymoon. This time they're in Brazil."

"Oh? Another one? They don't even have to get married to go on a honeymoon do they." My mother chuckled. Rosalie and Emmett were very extravagant, and loved traveling. "Anyway, Renesmee, anything you need from Denali?"

"Alice will be at the airport right?" both my parents nodded. "Then no. She'll have at least a trunk-full of new clothes for me. And you too Mama." _And probably you too Daddy,_ I thought, sometimes my dad's gift came in handy, that is, if I didn't want to talk. In this case my mouth was full of spaghetti.

I quickly finished off my spaghetti in order to get ready for bed. _Can you do my dishes for me? Please?! _My dad nodded his silent reply. He knew that I had a lot to do. Tomorrow we'd move back to Forks, the place in which I was born. Seven days later, I would start school.

I thought the whole thing over as I gathered my things to take a shower.

The bathroom was calming, with it's cool pastel colors. I looked into the mirror and analyzed my reflection. My ivory complexion contrasted beautifully with the bronze ringlets that fell to my waist. I was still wearing the baby pink tank top, lined artistically with small pink sequins on the top and bottom. My denim shorts were damp from my trip to the dock.

I quickly turned the water on to warm up and set my towel down on the counter. As the water heated I listened to what my parents were watching in the living room — which happened to be about as far away as you could get from the bathroom in this house — but hearing the T.V. was ridiculously easy, considering that my hearing was magnified incredibly far above human range.

My parents were watching the mainland news, most likely to check for any danger around Forks. They were so overprotective sometimes. But I still loved them. It was their over-protectiveness — after all — that saved my skin from the Volturi seven years ago.

The shower was warm now. I stepped in and let the hot water soothe my tense muscles. I washed and conditioned my hair more carefully than I needed to. The shower lagged, mostly due to my scrupulous attention to my hair. When I was finally finished I shut the valve off, it made only the tiniest of squeaks.

I dried off and hastily slipped into my pink satin pajamas before brushing my teeth. All of my things, save my change of clothes and toiletry bag, were already packed and ready for departure early tomorrow morning.

I bid my parents goodnight and went off to my room, the walls were the same shade as the bathroom — baby blue. It only took one bound to get to the bed in the corner of the room. I tossed my bag and laundry onto the built-in desk on the far wall.

The bed sheets wrinkled under my weight as I lay down. My eyes jumped to the gossamer hanging down over the bed from the ceiling. I heard two sets of footsteps — my mother and father — cross the hall in front of my room. They were probably getting changed into appropriate swimming attire for a midnight swim.

The water surrounding the island was always warm. Not that it mattered to my parents. Hardy anything was cold to them, or to any vampire.

I listened to their light, retreating footsteps. My prediction was correct; they were headed towards the beach. I let my eyelids flutter, and sank into unconsciousness.

_"Something's wrong…" I said to myself. My eyes opened. Around me were walls. Uniform beige walls dominated all sides of my vision. There was the occasional door, all of these led into another hallway. How I knew this, I was not sure. Some peculiar instinct told me that all of the doors led into another leg of the maze._

_I inched slowly forward. My feet seemed to make a thunderous noise against the concrete floor. Each step made my heart race impossibly faster than before. _

_The impeding darkness of the room cast shadows onto the floor. Even though it did not affect my eyesight, the blackness bothered me. It made the horrifying scene even more ominous. _

_Suddenly there were footsteps — a lot of them. Shadows, moving this time, came closer to the corner only a few yards ahead of me. I shivered, not from the cold._

_Then they came around the corner. Four figures hooded in black cloaks. One was tall, I assumed from its broad shoulders and height that this figure was male. On his right was a shorter, smaller figure. Considering how close these two were, they must be mates. To the males left was another, ever so slightly shorter figure. This one had such even proportions that I couldn't tell if it was male or female. I assumed, though, that this one was the leader — as he stood slightly ahead of the rest. To his left was a very short female._

_This short one and the pair seemed so familiar. I could feel the explanation pulling at the ends of my brain, but they were refusing to uncover themselves._

_Suddenly the figures twitched. They threw their heads up in a movement so fast that it didn't exist._

_I gasped in horror. There were my mother and father. Their eyes crimson, red and angry. They stood in the Volturi uniform, next to Aro. On his other side was Alice. She, also, had blood-red eyes that were full of anger and sorrow. All of their angelic faces contorted into an angry grimace._

_My body wanted to turn and run, Away from this… this, _nightmare_. But my mind wouldn't let me go. The four pairs of eyes staring at me held my feet to the ground. "Come, Renesmee…" Aro's voice filled the hall. "Join your mother and father."_

_"No!" I shrieked. My eyes closed with fear, and I was released from their grasp. I sprinted down the hall behind me, screaming and crying all the while._

Then, everything started to become fuzzy… blurred around the edges_._ Something familiar came to me. It was my father's voice. Concern was the dominant feeling in his words, "Renesmee! What happened? Renesmee!"

My mother's voice, also dominated with concern pleaded, "Renesmee! What's wrong? Please, Renesmee, wake up!"

I could not argue with these two, pleading, worried, voices. Everything became clear again, and found myself sprawled out on the bed, sweat covering my body, my pajamas clinging to my clammy skin. "Renesmee! Are you okay?" my parents spoke in unison.

"Fine," I gasped between ragged breaths as my eyes opened. "Don't worry… just, just… a nightmare."

I looked into my parent's faces to make sure that they were still themselves. Thank God! Their eyes were still a beautiful butterscotch-gold, both filled with love and concern.

"Renesmee," my father's voice soothing now. It was only now that I noticed the water shimmering and dripping off of their skin. They must have heard me, and came to see what was wrong.

My mother chimed in, also trying to soothe me, "Baby," she continued my dad's sentence. "It was just a nightmare. 'Kay?" She hugged me, pulling me closer to her and my father. We were all wet now, so much for my shower.

"What time is it?" I asked. I had to know if it was worth trying to go back to sleep.

"About one-thirty," my mother answered.

"Okay then. I'll go take another shower. I'm covered in sweat," I sniffed at the air, "and seawater apparently," I chuckled.

"Sorry about that," my father apologized. "We didn't have time to dry off."

"S' okay, I need the shower anyway. Is Jake home yet?"

"Almost. He started running like crazy when he heard you start screaming," my father answered. "Actually, he'll be here in approximately… four seconds."

I heard a door slam shut, and then heavy footsteps thundered down the hall.

"Ness! Are you okay?! What happened?! Are you hurt?!" Jacob's voice betrayed nearly as much worry as my parents' did.

"Jake, I'm fine… just a nightmare." He didn't seem convinced. I tiredly waved him over and proved it to him. Replaying the last few minutes of my memory.

"Are you sure?" there was still concern in his tone, but much of it had abated when he saw my memory.

"Yes Jake, for the last time. I am perfectly fine. Just in need of a shower. So could I have some privacy, please?"

He seemed to understand, "'Kay, see you in the morning. G'night Ness, Bells, Edward." He walked out of the room, only to go into the guest room down the hall.

"Renesmee," my mother still seemed flustered, and pleading. "Do you want us to stay?"

"No… I think I'll be fine. I'll call if I need anything."

"Are you sure?" my father was also pleading.

_Yes, Dad. No worries. I'll be fine. _He nodded, both of then seemed slightly reassured and walked lightly out of the room. They were going to dry off and clean up the puddles they left in the house, no doubt.

I stalked into the bathroom to take my second shower of the night. I halted the flow of memories from the last few minutes. There was no way I was going to let myself be haunted by that dream, not again.

After the shower, I lay down and yawned hugely. There was no way that I would be able to fall asleep. But, I didn't want to look completely sleep deprived tomorrow.

"Dad?" I said it as though he was right next to me.

"Yeah?" he was right next to me in a second.

"Would you mind singing my lullaby?" I asked. It always calmed me down when all else failed.

"Of course, milady," he said lightly, my father was always such a gentleman.

"Thanks, Dad."

He started to hum my lullaby; it was a softer, and more sanguine than my mother's. I soon felt the level of my exhaustion. Within a few seconds I had submitted myself to the realm of dreams.

I woke up at the usual, seven A.M. Then, proud of myself for not suffering from any more nightmares, I roamed around the artistically decorated house until I got to the kitchen. It was only then that I noticed the smell of bacon and eggs on the stove. I immediately scooped up the aromatic sustenance, stalked over to the table and started eating.

"Well? Are you going to say 'good morning'?" The husky voice came from the door. Huh. I should have smelled him standing there. Jake was my best friend/werewolf. There was only one thing that could tie a vampire — half-vampire in this case — and a werewolf together: imprinting. Imprinting wasn't something that I could readily explain. Jake said that it was like he was being pulled toward his center of the universe, me. Because of that, he was the best friend possible, I often pondered if it should be more, but put it off, I wasn't ready for that.

"Yes. Good morning, Jake."

"C'mon, Ness! Your parents are loading the boat."

"'Kay. Give me a sec'!" I started to gulp down the hot food. The warmth slightly soothed the burn in my throat. But that wouldn't last long. I would have to hunt soon.

It was then that I noticed I was still in the shorts and tee-shirt that I wore to sleep. I sprinted to my room and saw that both of my bags were gone. They were probably on the boat already.

My parents knew I would come in looking for suitable clothes. There was a light blue tank top and a pair of denim Capri's on the dresser. I slipped them on, quickly, throwing my pajamas on the floor as I dashed out of the room. The cleaning crew would take those later.

Jake was waiting for me, leaning against the doorframe. "C'mon Ness!"

"Okay, okay!"

We ran to the dock and leapt onto the boat there, we landed lightly, as not to tilt the boat.

"Morning, Renesmee!" my parents greeted me.

"Good morning, and thanks for the eggs. They were delicious!"

Jake chimed in, "Yeah, they were great. Even with the vampire stench."

"Thanks. I thought something simple would suffice." My mother was an excellent chef. "Was there enough for you Jake?"

Jake nodded, thankfully.

"Okay," my father cut in, "Is everyone ready? We're leaving."


	2. Journey

2. Journey

All of us were excited — or anxious — about the return to Forks. My mother and I wanted to see her dad, my grandpa; Jake wanted to see his family and his pack. We all, except Jake wanted to see the rest of the Cullen family.

My mom and I sat down on one of the waterproof couches in the back of the boat.

"Are you exited?" I couldn't miss the note of eagerness in her question.

"Yes, of course! Seeing Charlie and Billy would be nice. We haven't seen them for at least a year!" I was enthusiastic now. I truthfully did want to see Grandpa Charlie and Uncle Billy.

My mother nodded a response. She could tell that I needed to ponder the upcoming events.

I turned my gaze left, to the ocean. It went out for miles without meeting any landmass whatsoever.

I turned my head in the direction that we were going and vaguely wondered if I could swim the distance back to the Rio Janeiro port.

The boat glided over the water, not straying an inch from the perfectly straight path to the dock. I could hear my father giving Jake instructions on driving the boat.

"Dad…" their conversation stopped abruptly at my interruption.

"Jacob, would you please take the wheel? You know enough to steer," my father gave Jake the wheel then came over to sit by me. "Yes?" Even thought he could read my mind, he almost always let me ask the question before answering it. He knew what I wanted, and being the wonderful father he was, he gave me everything I wanted. I thought that I was such a spoiled person. But my family insisted otherwise.

I only wanted to confide this in my father — he was, after all, the best secret keeper — Mama and Jake would be infuriated over my fears. Of course, my father would be too… but if I told him to not tell or get mad, I could trust that he could keep it a secret, except from my mother, but he'd convince her not to tell Jake about it. My father would find a way to tell her without Jake finding out.

_Daddy, well, you have to promise to not get angry. It isn't their fault. Okay?_

He nodded slowly, so Jake wouldn't notice. We were good at these secret conversations. The only one that could tell what we were doing was my mother.

_Will the werewolves be upset that I'm coming back? I caused them so much trouble! And what will happen to you, Mama, and Jake? All of Forks and La Push know what you guys look like! Won't it be hard for you guys? You don't have to move back to Forks just because of me!_

I could tell that my mother had seen the distress in my eyes. I quickly smoothed out my features so I wouldn't alarm Jake if he looked back at us.

Sure enough, he did. He noticed the silence when I was supposed to be conversing with my parents.

Once he was satisfied that we were all okay he turned back, knowing that we were conversing in our own way.

My father let out a sigh and looked exasperated. It was his way of letting me know that I didn't need to worry, things would be okay.

_Are you sure? _

He nodded at the same time as my mother. She must have picked up on what the conversation was from my fathers face.

_Okay. _I gave up on arguing. My parents were resolute. They refused to tell me about the downsides of moving back. And they probably wouldn't until we were settled down in Forks.

"Um… sorry to interrupt. But, we're getting close to the dock, and I don't know how to… er… park a boat." I knew that Jake felt awkward, not knowing if he was interrupting our conversation.

"Okay, stop the boat, please," my father got up and briskly walked to the helm to take the wheel.

A few seconds later, the boat was tied to the dock; I had barely noticed the stop. My father had docked the boat with inhuman accuracy.

I heard two men whistle as they saw how perfectly lined up the hull of the boat was with the pier.

Jake stepped off of the boat, followed by my parents, then me.

The two men that had whistled before were absolutely shocked. Both had their jaws dropped in awe as we walked gracefully down the pier to the car, waiting for us in the front of the parking lot.

My father led us to a silver Mercedes.

"It's a Mercedes-Benz F 700," he explained.

"Edward," my mother was slightly annoyed, "you know I don't speak car."

"Okay, I'll drive," he said. I wasn't paying too much attention to my parent's conversation, but I kept tabs on it. My eyes were tracing the sleek contours of the car. The body styling was amazing. It looked like a hybrid of a minivan and sports car. I wondered where my family got this car, after all. They all had cars of their own.

My father even bought Jake a car for his eighteenth birthday! Long ago I learned that it was an Aston Martin, but didn't really care what model. Cars weren't the most interesting subject to me.

I climbed into the backseat, followed by Jake. "So, are Grandma and Grandpa meeting us at the airport?"

"Yes, Alice and Jasper too. They are planning to drive us to the house. But knowing Alice we'll have to make a shopping trip along the way. You and Bella have worn almost each of your outfits twice! Alice might have a heart attack!" he chuckled at the thought. That wasn't the easiest thing to do — give a vampire a heart attack.

My mother chimed into the conversation, "What about Rose and Emmett? _Please_ tell me that they aren't _still_ on their _seventh_ honeymoon?"

"I'm pretty sure they are. They are Rosalie and Emmett after all."

"Where do you think they went this time?"

I took advantage of the pause in speech and placed my hand on Jacobs face. I showed him a picture of Rosalie and Emmett underwater in the ocean, swimming across the Pacific to Hawaii.

Jake guffawed and put my hand in his. His skin was the perfect temperature, almost exactly the same as mine.

My mother had a slightly confused expression on her face, so I placed my free hand on her cheek and showed her the same thing. She giggled; the sound was like the peal of bells. My father chuckled too.

I must have dozed off during the car ride; because the next thing I knew, was that I was in my father's arms, being carried towards the airport.

"I'm awake…" I yawned.

"Are you sure? I am perfectly capable of carrying you."

_I'm sure. We'd look weird with you carrying me into the airport._

He nodded and gingerly set down on the sidewalk. I must have been sleeping for a while; I felt so disoriented that I fell back a few inches. I caught myself before I fell into my mother's ready arms.

"Are you sure?" my father's voice was full of concern. He moved to my side, most likely to catch me if I fell again. My mother moved to my other side. She picked up my arm and locked my elbow in hers.

"Okay, Renesmee. There is no _way_, that I am going to let you carry your own bags when you can barely even stand up straight," she snatched the newly acquired bags from my hands and shoulders.

We must have looked like some kind of procession as we walked up to the luggage counter, with my parents on either side of me and Jake behind me.

I noticed that Jake had taken most of the bags from my mother, how kind.

I was beginning to regain possession of my senses. My vision was finally liberated of that hazy film, I wasn't dizzy, and my hearing was finally returned to normal.

_How long was I asleep?_

"Only an hour and an half," sometimes I wondered if my mother _could_ read my mind.

"Huh. Wonder why I'm so drowsy."

"You were terrified from that dream last night…" I could detect the worry in her voice now. I must have scared her. After all, I was only asleep for an hour and a half, but it seemed like days.

"Don't worry, love," my father, as usual, was trying to calm down my paranoid mother. The only scary thing was, that there was the barest hint of unease in his voice too. Although, my father was a much better actor than my mother, I could still hear the hint of worry.

I decide that it would be good to reassure my parents. "Don't worry about me, I was just in really deep sleep, that's all, 'kay?"

My parents seemed to believe me. After all, I was feeling fine now, my senses had completely returned to normal.

Suddenly a voice came up on the loudspeakers, "First class boarding for Flight 53, to Huston, Texas, U.S.A, boarding now!" then the voice repeated that — in what I assumed to be — Spanish.

"Come on, Renesmee! That's us," my mother started dragging my fa— Edward, I wasn't supposed to call him 'Dad' around other people anymore… we were physically the same age — towards the gate.

Jake and I followed at a slightly slower pace. His face held an expression that was a mix of worry and anticipation. "C'mon, Jake!" I urged. "Mom and Dad are going to freak if we're not behind them!" This seemed to grab his attention, he jerked forward, and I followed.

The scent of the humans hit me like a wrecking ball. So many humans, so close together, their scent mingling in such a strong aroma that I nearly fell backwards.

In all of my years I had never been in the presence of so many humans at once. I was always growing to quickly to maintain a normal life around them. It took me a few seconds to adjust to the scent.

My father squeezed my arm and nodded, trying to reassure me that I would do fine. I took a deep breath, the humans blood was easier to resist now that the initial shock was over.

"Don't worry, Renesmee," my mother assured me, "You'll get used to it."

"She already is, love," My father looked at her, his eyes saturated with love, for the both of us.

We were seated in the first class cabin of the plane within a few minutes. We were in the _very_ front of the plane, I wondered why. "Sorry, Renesmee, Alice is very impatient with homecomings, you know that. She might wreck the plane if were not out within forty-five seconds," my father tried to comfort me.

He could tell how anxious I was about the return. I hadn't been to Forks since I was only a year old.

"Don't worry about it, you've got nothing to worry about," my mother's face popped up from behind my father. "We've gotten almost everything sorted out! You're already enrolled in Forks High-School!" She was peppy. As usual; my mother was quite the ray of sunshine around me, especially now, when I needed the extra-energetic environment.

The seatbelt sign turned on and the monotonous voice of the flight attendant started to begin the usual speech: emergency exits, seatbelts, and restrooms. Basics.

"Bells, about how long do you think this flight'll last?" I swiftly turned my head to see Jake's anxious expression.

"Um… I don't know… Edward?"

"Well… we have to stop in Houston first, I'm thinking that'll take about twelve hours, then the flight to Seattle is probably going to be about four hours," he answered coolly.

Jacob just stared incredulously. He coughed and said, "'Kay… sure!" It was my turn to stare, his face lit up the moment he checked the math, "'Bout fifteen hours till we get to Seattle." He leaned back, smiling.

"That doesn't include transit time," my father added, "just that will be at least another half-hour. Planes are always late. Then the drive to Forks is another hour." Jake smiled even wider. My father chuckled under his breath.

Moments later the plane's floor was vibrating as it taxied to the runway. Soon we were up in the air, and Jake was snoring _very_ loudly.

"Da—"" I was cut off by a stern glance from him, ugh! He was 'Edward' now — "Edward," the name sounded awkward coming from my lips. "What was Jake thinking earlier? When he was so… instantaneously relieved?" I finished my question in low whisper, impossible for a human to hear.

"It's nothing you need to worry about." His tone was gentle; I knew I wouldn't get any more information from him on that subject.

We all let out a sigh of relief when the monotone flight attendant's voice came on the loudspeaker to announce that we would be landing soon.

"Jake, Jake wake up!" I shook his shoulder violently, _none of us should be humanly capable of carrying you off of a plane, _I giggled and shook his shoulder again. The snoring ceased and he bolted awake.

"What? What? Ness? What happened?"

"Come on sleepy head, the plane's going to land soon," I was gentle with my tone; I must have freaked him out when I woke him up.

"Sorry, Ness," he was completely awake now, "I got about one hour of sleep last night."

"Well, you have about, oh, eleven hours of sleep now. You should be good."

"Heh, yeah, I should," he chuckled. "Was I asleep the whole flight?"

"Yeah, your snoring certainly proved that."

"Sorry, Ness. I didn't know how tired I was."

"'S okay, M — _Bella_," my mother's name also sounded awkward on my lips, "and D — _Edward_ made it a point to keep me entertained when I wasn't sleeping. You didn't miss much."

"Okay, thanks, Ness."

The seatbelt sign turned on and I could feel the plane dipping down. Less than a minute later the plane was bumping and vibrating uncomfortably on the runway. As the ride started to smooth out I asked my father, _do you think that you could fly this plane more… comfortably?_

He nodded, chuckling.

The plane taxied towards the airport. I noticed that this was the stop to Houston. _Dad? Why are we in the front now if Alice isn't meeting us now?_ I asked mentally.

"The front has more leg room. I thought it might be more appropriate for Jacob," he replied smoothly.

_That works. I guess. _He was right. Jake needed all the extra legroom he could get.

Like my father said, we were the first people off of the plane. We walked briskly down to the next gate.

As we passed a Starbucks my mother broke the silence, "Renesmee, do you want anything to eat? Or drink?" Some food actually sounded quite good at the moment.

"Sure," I started walking toward the stand, then it occurred to me that Jake was probably starving too, "Jake, I know you're hungry. Come on!" I laughed as he acted out a dramatic scene where he was dying of hunger. It was the perfect balance between sarcasm and reality.

"So, Ness, what are you getting?" he asked me.

"Um… I think… a Caramel Frappuccino and a Roast-Beef sandwich sounds good. What do you want?"

"Can you get me the sandwich, please? I want to ask Bells something."

I nodded and took my place in the two-person-long line. One minute later I was in the front of the line.

"What would you like?" the young clerk's question was genuinely thoughtful. I saw a look of shock cross his face when he looked up and saw me.

"Can I have one tall Caramel Frappuccino and two Roast-Beef sandwiches, please."

He looked at me, appreciatively, and replied, "Sure, anything else?" I shook my head, "So, do you um…" he paused and looked down awkwardly, "live here? In Houston?"

Interesting. He was trying to flirt. "Sorry, no. My family and I are moving to Washington. We came from Rio De Janeiro."

"Oh…" he looked disappointed. "Well do you want my email?" Persistent.

"Sorry, I'm already with someone. Jake?" he turned his head in my direction then walked over. He knew what I was doing. The easiest way to, kindly, reject a fan was to drop the 'sorry, already have a boyfriend' on them. Not to mention, Jake didn't mind playing the part.

"Oh…" the boy said again, looking disappointed. "Well, my names Jason, by the way. Anyway," he sounded more official and business-like, "one Caramel Frappuccino and two Roast-Beef sandwiches?"

I nodded my response then strode to the group of tables with Jake. "Nice job," I said. "That was convincing. Poor guy, though. He seems nice enough."

"Yeah, I'm sure he'll find someone," he said kindly. Jake knew that I didn't really love him _that_ way, yet. Right now, he was just my best friend — almost brother.

"Yeah." I sipped at my Frappuccino. "Don't you want anything to drink?"

"Yeah, that might be a good idea. What's that?" he nodded towards my drink.

"A Frappuccino — Caramel Frappuccino."

"Is it good? You know I'm not that big a fan of coffee."

"_I_ think that it's pretty good. Want to try some?"

"Um… sure," I passed him the cup. He took the lid off and took a small sip; two seconds later his face contorted into a funny position, I — being myself — laughed quietly.

"Yuck!" he was shaking his head back and forth. "Sorry, Ness, but, yuck! Ew, I was right. Still don't like coffee."

"It's not _that_ much like coffee. It's just an acquired taste, that's all."

"Probably, but that's not a taste that I need to 'acquire'."

I heard my mother approach me. I turned to see what she wanted. "Jake, Renesmee," she said, "the flight will be boarding soon." Her tone was light.

We both nodded and followed her to the gate, my father was waiting and handed my mother her purse, and did the same for me.

The plane ride to Seattle was almost exactly the same as the one to Houston — we were even still in the front again — save the fact that Jake was awake this time. He seemed to be doing the exact same thing my mother and father were, making sure that I was never bored.

The only time that they gave up and were quiet — not that I really minded playing around with them — was when people were turning their lights off and going to sleep. I did the same. They didn't have to sacrifice there time for my sake when I was 'asleep.'

They knew I was awake, but were courteous enough to give me some time to rest, and courteous enough to let the others on the plane rest.

During the flight I actually did fall asleep. My f — Edward, I was going to have to think of them using their names to remember not to call them 'Mom' or 'Dad' — gently woke Jake and I up when the plane landed.

It was then that I noticed that I was sprawled out across three seats, my head on m— Edward's lap and my feet on Jake's knee.

"Sorry about that," I yawned. "I do move a lot when I sleep."

"It's okay, Renesmee. Jake doesn't mind either," Edward replied. Good, I remembered to call him by his name. In my head.

"Interesting strategy," he chuckled. "But if it works…"

"It does, _Edward_," I made it a point to use his name. He laughed again, this time his laugh accompanied by the lower, throatier, laugh of Jake.

"C'mon, Ness. Or do you want me to carry you?"

"No, I'm fine, thank you. I'll walk," as promised we were the first off of the plane, and Alice was there, waiting for us right outside of the gate.

The moment we were out of the door she threw herself at us, at human speed of course, and hugged each one of us tightly. The interesting thing was, that she hugged Jake too. She must have really missed us.

Once the hugging barrage was over she dropped her jaw and looked devastated, "Bella. Edward. And Ness. Oh. My. God." She was now angry and shocked, "You. Wore. Those. Clothes. Twice." The chagrin left her face, "We need to get to a department store. Now!"

She pushed us — all of us — towards the exit. As we were forcibly moved forward we passed the rest of the welcoming committee.

"Is it safe to go near Alice?" Carlisle asked, humored.

"I think, you better hurry, though, you wont have a chance to say 'hi' once she finds a Macys," I replied.

"How was the trip?" Esme asked. We were now walking side by side, Alice was dragging my mother — the whole Edward and Bella thing had sunk in by now — ahead of the rest of us. I stayed slightly behind. If my mother got away, I was next on Alice's list.

"Great! I _loved_ Isle Esme! That had to be the best vacation of my life!" It was true. I hadn't had many vacations, due to the fact that I grew so quickly. "So who's driving?"

"I think Alice and Jasper are going to drive you. She's definitely going to take you on a shopping trip on the way to Forks, though."

"Yeah, I figured. She all but died when she first saw us." We both giggled. "Am I causing any trouble? With the move? Wait, scratch that, how much trouble am I causing?"

"Ness, your not causing any trouble," Esme was always so kind and loving.

"I _know_ I am. What are all of you going to do? Be bored all day? And what will my moving back do to the wolves? They must be mad at me! I caused them so much trouble last time…"

Jake heard the last part about the wolves and stepped over to join our converation, "The wolves wouldn't hate you. That was the most interesting thing that they have ever done, if anything, they'll be thanking you. And, it's not your fault that the bloodsucker misunderstood."

"But—"

"Renesmee," Esme interrupted, "you're so much like your mother in that way. Don't worry about it. The worst thing we'll suffer from is a little bit of boredom, nothing we can't handle. This is what you want, you're going to get it."

Arguing at this point was futile, so I just agreed. "Okay, if you're sure about it."

I trotted over to Jasper, as he was the only available Cullen to talk too. Carlisle was talking to my father, checking on the security of Forks I presumed, and my mother was chatting with Esme, Jake and Alice.

"Hi, Jasper."

"Hello, Ness," he replied simply.

"Anything interesting happen while we were gone?"

"Nothing that would be of interest. Just resettling into our property in Forks."

"Oh, okay." I noticed that Alice had one free arm, and I was dangerously close, so I retreated to my position on the opposite side of Esme.

As we walked I noticed the hundreds of preoccupied stares focused on us. I knew what those who were gaping at us must have been thinking, probably something along the lines of: _wow, who are they?_ Or something like that.

We soon made it to the parking lot. After we said quick goodbyes to Carlisle and Esme we followed Alice and Jasper to a mini-van. "Wow, nice car," I commented.

"It's a Toyota RAV4," my father told me.

"Toyota, huh. Why so many cars?"

"It's just a rental, most of our cars aren't designed for so many people."

I sat with my mother in the back, Jake and my father were in front of us, and driving was Jasper next to Alice who was vividly explaining the upcoming shopping trip.

A half-hour later we were parked outside of a large mall that I didn't know the name of. I wondered how far off course this place was.

We spent what seemed to be hours in the store. Jasper, Jake, and my father carrying multiple bags of clothing while Alice dragged my mother and I around the mall.

She put me in a pink floral, sleeveless, dress with white shoes and a matching sweater. My mother was forced into a similar outfit, in blue with a half-jacket.

Only when she had us carrying three bags each did she escort us back to the car.

The car ride to Forks was quiet. I could feel the anxious charge in the air. None of us had visited Forks in seven years.

My eyelids fluttered and I noticed how utterly exhausted I was. I leaned back in my seat and fell asleep.

I woke up in my father's arms, again. "I'm fine, you can put me down," my speech wasn't impaired. Good.

My father seemed convinced; he set me gently on my feet. I looked at my surroundings and gasped in shock.


	3. Forks

3. Forks

I looked up at the stunning Cullen mansion. The huge windows, white walls, and surrounding forest, it all seemed so perfect.

Esme had done a wonderful job of redecorating the house. It looked exactly the same as it did seven years ago, also the result of having a flawless memory to recall the minutest detail.

"Beautiful, isn't it," my mother was right next to me.

"Yeah, it looks exactly the same."

"Of course it does! Esme was the one that redecorated, after all. So, do you want a tour? Or would you like to go and see your new room?"

"New room?" I was confused. If Esme had redecorated everything the same way, then how could I have a new room?

My father noticed my dilemma, "Esme took the liberty of designing the extra room in the cottage for you."

I gasped, "No way. Oh my God! Thank you Esme!" I absolutely did not expect anything to change. I hadn't paid much attention to my room in the cottage seven years ago; it was simply where I slept. There was nothing really dramatic about it, just a bed, some chairs, and a small table.

"Which way?" I asked.

"Follow us," my parents said in unity.

We sprinted through the forest at an incredible speed.

When we reached the cottage I was a bit winded. One of the worst things that I had inherited from my mother was the need to breathe. I didn't need quite as much air as humans, but I couldn't hold my breath indefinitely. I considered my need for oxygen to be like the werewolves'; I needed it to survive, but had and inhuman amount of stamina, so oxygen was never really a problem. Except now, I was exhausted. Sleep deprivation does that to me.

"It looks just as beautiful as the first day we saw it," my father said.

"Yeah," my mother and I agreed.

We were tentative on the first steps inside. It felt as thought the tiniest footstep would send the house swirling into oblivion, the reality of our cottage being their was not quite set in out minds.

I felt a wave of nostalgia hit me when I looked around the, also, perfectly redecorated room.

None of the furniture matched, but it was harmonious, nonetheless.

I stepped lightly towards the hallway, which I knew led to my room. Before opening the door, I braced myself. My knees were quite likely to fail me when I saw the room.

My parents were suddenly behind me. They were both as anxious as I was to see the new room. Change was such a rare thing for vampires.

I slid the door open carefully, keeping my eyes closed. When the door was pushed open as far as possible, so as not to obscure any of the room, I opened my eyes.

As I predicted, my knees buckled and I leaned against the wall for support.

There were three sudden intakes of breath as my parents' eyes and mine as we stared at the room.

The walls were my favorite shade of blue. A pastel, ice, blue. There was a bed in the right corner of the room. The bedspread complimented the walls perfectly, the bright magenta comforter, contrasting perfectly with the pale blue walls.

The sunlight — which was a rarity in Forks — filtered in through the large glass windows, lighting up the room.

I flicked the light switch up to get a better look at the lighting fixtures in the room.

The moment I flipped the switch a single light turned on. The dome shape suited the modern motif; it threw bright beams of light in every direction. The light wasn't so dim as to not be of any use, but they weren't bright enough to distract my attuned eyes.

Until now, the glass French doors had blended in with the windows that lined that lined the back wall.

I stepped forward until I was only feet away from the doors. Outside of them was a tiny garden filled with anemones and pink and white carnations — I wondered how Esme got them to grow so beautifully here.

I gasped, "It's _beautiful_!"

"Esme's designs always are," my mother said as she took in the scene in front of her.

"I think that Esme gave you a welcome gift," my father called from my new room.

"Esme shouldn't have!" I exclaimed when I looked at the shiny new laptop, lying in the center of the desk that was hidden in the corner of the room.

"She decided that you should get an upgrade. Plus, she knows that you love blue," my father tilted his head towards the desk. Before I didn't even notice that the computer was a light metallic blue. _Remind me to thank Esme._

My father nodded a silent reply. I felt the need to absorb every aspect of the room before leaving.

I stepped forward, into the light that filtered in through the windows. I could see, in my peripheral vision, my reflection the solitary mirror leaned against the left wall. My skin had a luminescent glow to it, but it was nothing like my parents sparkling skin.

My mother stepped into the sunlight next to me, and my father followed on the other side. They put my hands in theirs.

We stood there. Listening, feeling, knowing.

I didn't know how much time had passed. Seconds? Minutes? Hours? I wasn't sure. All I knew was that I was incredibly hungry, _thirsty_.

"Mom, Dad?" I asked tentatively. They had not moved at all since they came to me. "Um… could we go hunting? I'm…um… kind of thirsty."

"You're more than 'kind of thirsty,'" my father replied, "let's go." He grabbed my mother's hand and led us out of the cottage.

We sprinted north in search of prey. There was a small herd of elk a few miles ahead of us.

I contemplated if this was a good idea. I knew that it wasn't the easiest thing for my parents to hunt with me so close, but it was one of my favorite activities.

"Are you sure it's okay?" I asked both of my parents.

They knew what I meant, "Of course, Renesmee, baby," my mother spoke, "we have no problem hunting with you anymore. We've been doing it for seven years, that's more than long enough for us to get used to something."

"Don't worry, Renesmee. You're not full human. We can differentiate you from an animal even when we've given ourselves to our senses," my father added.

I nodded, as not to scare off the prey that we were now approaching. I leaped up into a tree to get a better position on the herd. My parents also gained strategic ground, leaving the herd upwind.

I let my senses pinpoint the best animal to charge. The buck farthest away from me was the best target for me.

We all knew exactly which elk each of us were targeting. My parents were taking some of the ones closest to them; I was targeting the farther, larger elk.

There was no need for a signal before we lunged. Three, perfect, lightning fast launches. All of us had amazing accuracy, reaching our desired targets within a fraction of a second.

My parents took out four large elk in the front at in the same time that I took out one. The rest of the herd — noticing our appearance — scattered into the forest for cover.

It only took a few minutes for us to completely drain all of the elk. I was quite pleased. The burn in my throat was nearly gone by now.

There were a few moments of silence. We were all cherishing the feel of our first hunt back in Forks.

"So," I began, "are we going back to the house? And where's Jake?" I hadn't thought about Jake since the drive over. It was like an automatic thing to ask about him when he wasn't with us.

"Yes to the first, and Jake's consulting with Sam's pack and reinforcing pack boundaries." Jake left the main pack, Sam's pack, of werewolves. When I was born, he left to protect my mother and, later, I. Leah — who never really liked me — and her younger brother, Seth, followed him out of the main pack. "He is still undecided if he wants Leah and Seth to rejoin his pack," my father answered smoothly.

"Okay, so, are we going anytime soon? Sorry to rush, but we were on a plane all day. I'm a bit… jet-lagged," I said, unable to find a better word.

"Good point. Let's go," my mother said, taking off into the undergrowth.

Thank God I was gifted with my father's speed. It took a little effort to keep up with my full-vampire parents, but it was possible.

My breath quickened as we ran. _Darn, _I thought, _the only thing about being half-human, I can't run for long, especially with a full stomach._

Even though I was half-vampire, I was still susceptible to side pain and cramps.

"Ouch…" I didn't mean to say it aloud, but side pain this severe was quite painful.

My father knew the pain that I was in, "C'mon, Ness," my mother shot him a stern glance. We both knew that, even after seven, years she still resented the name Nessie, and the newer variation, Ness. "Get on," he knelt down slightly, he knew that I didn't need him to, but I was tired, and he was a gentleman.

"Thanks, Dad," I said as I climbed onto his back. His broad shoulders made an excellent handhold.

I clung to his back, some would say "as if my life depended on it," as a joke, but mine really did. If I did fall… no, I didn't want to think about that right now. But if I even showed a slight sign of falling, my father would definitely stop and make sure I was all right.

It didn't even feel like we were moving. The only thing that gave away the illusion of stillness, was the earthy tones of the forest flashing by.

My parents told me stories of my mother's first ride on my father's back. "I nearly died," my mother said, "from fear, of course. I seriously thought that Edward would hit a tree." I laughed aloud at the though.

"What's so funny, princess?" my father asked, teasing. He knew, but, as always, was very courteous.

"Just thinking about Mom's first ride."

Both of them laughed.

"Anyways, we're almost there, you wanted to go to the house right?" my father, my parents referred to the Cullen mansion as 'the house,' every couple in the family had their own little escape built somewhere in the world. My parents happened to be the only ones with a getaway so close to the mansion.

"Yeah," I replied, "I want to see Jake when he comes back. He usually stays away from the cottage." It was true. Jake gave my parents the little privacy he could manage, with me around, by staying away from the cottage, except for rare visits. The cause of which: he couldn't _stand_ to be away from me any longer.

"I can always sleep on the couch," I pointed out.

"No, you wont," I was surprised at the ferocity in my mother's voice. "You can sleep in your father's room, I will _not_ have you on that couch."

"Why?" I knew it was a bad idea to ask, but curiosity won.

"I'm sorry to admit, but that couch _reeks_! No offense to Jake, Leah, and Seth — it's great that they are comfortable — but you'll never get any rest on a couch that smells like werewolves," she explained, gentler. She really did love that the family wolves were comfortable, but they did — I have to admit — make the couch stink.

"Good point." One of the few things I hated about being half-vampire, was that I had inherited their sense of disgust from the werewolf smell. The gene had not triggered until a few years ago, I was very unhappy about it.

My whole family, including his pack, hid it from Jake that his smell was not my favorite thing. After all, I was getting used to it, in a sense. The smell didn't affect me as it had in the past.

We were at the edge of the river, without breaking his stride; my father leapt smoothly to the other side, my mother did the same.

It didn't take very long to reach the mansion, as I called it.

The moment we reached the door I yanked it open and strode to the couch to, finally, rest peacefully, then I remembered that my mother would _not_ let me sleep on the particular couch, so I made my way over to the staircase that led to the second floor of the mansion.

"Uh-uh," my mother scolded, "don't even try to climb those stairs. You are in a completely lethargic state right now, and will not be allowed to walk any further."

She swiftly and gracefully scooped me up and carried me up the stairs to my father's old room — my mother didn't have a bed in her room — and carefully placed me in the center of the bed.

"Goodnight, Renesmee," she said, even though it was nowhere near nighttime.

"Don't worry, we'll wake you when Jacob comes back," my father added.

"Okay…" my voice trailed off as I reached the state of incoherency that comes with exhaustion.

I heard my parent's footsteps as they left the room, I wasn't sure why. But —whatever it was — it was fine with me.

I felt my consciousness begin to ebb and surrendered myself to the numbness of a deep sleep.

I woke up, only to see the red and orange light of sunset, filtering in through the many windows in the east-facing room.

The numbness was starting to recede and I noticed that it _was_ sunset. When I left the conscious world, it was late morning, how could it be _sunset_?

I shook my head and ran with a vampire's speed down the stairs — taking then five at a time — and almost plowed into Alice in my haste, she was sitting on the stairs, as usual.

"What time is it? How long was I sleeping?" I said hurriedly.

"Not long. It's 6:30," Alice replied, "and yes, Jacob came, he didn't want to wake you." Alice knew what I was going to ask next, and answered before the question to save time.

"Oh, okay… where is he?" I turned to my father.

"Out in the back, he wanted to reintroduce you to Leah and Seth," he replied coolly.

"But, don't I already know Leah and Seth?" I was genuinely curious; I had met both of them when we last came to Forks. "I'll go anyway," I mused aloud and made my way to the door, passing Jasper who was discussing the next hunting trip with my father.

I could smell all of the scents of the forest the moment I opened the door — grass, rain, wood, dirt, and even some of the small animals that had not noticed my presence.

I could hear three husky voices, familiar voices. Jake, Leah, and Seth, I assumed.

"Exactly _why_ are you bringing the half-_leech­ _out to meet us?" Leah sounded angry.

"Leah… come on, don't you want to see Nessie," Seth and the rest of the werewolves, still, had not adopted my latest nickname — Ness, — "I mean, we haven't seen her — in person — for over seven years!" I was positive that Seth was referring to the mental communication that the packs shared with each other.

"Yeah, but, what if I don't _want_ to see the leeches offspring?" I started to wonder if Leah would be hostile towards me if I stepped into the clearing now.

"Well, you're going to see her anyway, she hasn't seen _you_ in over seven years as well, and she's right around the corner," Jake usually never used the assertive alpha in his tone, but this was a rare instance, his argument with the pack involved me.

There was no choice but to come out of my hiding place now. I stepped out into the clearing, only to be ambushed by Seth and a huge bear hug.

"Nessie! I can't believe it! I haven't seen you for _ages_!" he spluttered, the words barely legible as they rapidly poured from his mouth, "How are you? What did you do while you were away? Did you miss us?" he asked, not bothering to wait for an answer

"Um… I'm fine, and yes I missed you guys, after all, I haven't seen you in _seven _years!" I replied and pressed my hand to his face at the same time.

_The trip was great!_ I thought as I showed him a hasty replay of our seven-year-long trip away from Forks.

"Wow, you guys actually went to Denali. I've never been to Alaska, and probably will never go" he said when I was done with the recap.

I nodded, meaning to reassure Seth, but my eyes trailed over to Leah. The expression on her face looked like one you would see if you bumped into a lifelong adversary.

Jake shot her a glance that I wasn't meant to see.

"Hi… Renesmee," she forced the words out angrily then stormed into the forest.

"Don't worry, Ness," Jake finally said. "Leah's just… Leah."

"Yeah. I don't mind," I lied smoothly. I was very thankful that I had inherited my father's ability to lie. "So how are things going with the other pack?" I asked, not wanting to discuss Leah, not now.

"Pretty good," Jake replied, "Sam and I have reworded the treaty, they'll stay off of our territory if we do the same."

"Are you sure that it's no trouble?" I worried aloud.

"Ness, you are _never_ any trouble. For once you asked for something that you wanted, something that required more than 50 dollars, that is."

"Okay, if you're sure. And, thanks," I added.

"So, school in a week," he changed the subject, again, "are you excited?"

"Naturally, wait. Please tell me that you're coming with me! I mean, I know that Mom got through, but I'd be all alone if you didn't come!"

"I don't know, Ness…" he looked uncomfortable, "I look kind of old to be in high school…"

"You could start out as a junior! Please?" I begged, I hadn't thought about having Jake come to school with me before, but now it seemed like a good idea. I wanted to interact with people, but not alone. "I'm lying about my age, I always have. I mean, I'm starting out as a sophomore! Please?" I said in a quieter tone.

"I'll try," he was resolved, "but I haven't registered, so I can't get in until second semester."

"Thanks," I new that was the best he could do.

"'Kay, I'll go talk to Edward about it," he turned the corner and went into the house.

"He'll do anything for you, wont he?" I had nearly forgotten that Seth was still in the clearing.

"Yeah, I'm so spoiled!" both of us started laughing. "Well, I'm pooped. Goodnight," I waved and walked into the house.

My parents were standing by the couch, having a lively conversation with Alice and Jasper — it was mostly Alice talking.

"Hi, Renesmee," my mother interrupted Alice, "we've sorted things out. Jake's going to join you in school starting in the second semester."

"Great!" some of my enthusiasm was masked by weariness, "But, um… well, I'm going back to the cottage. Somehow, I'm still tired. Goodnight," I said and turned towards the door, but there were suddenly two white shapes holding me back.

"If you're tired, you're not running — especially when you're alone," my father scolded. He gracefully picked me up in his arms and ran out the door.

A minute later we were at the cottage. My father carried me to my room and set me down on the bed, "Goodnight," both of my parents said together as they walked out of the room.

My thoughts were racing as I lay down on the soft mattress. I was suddenly full of energy, the post-trip tiredness seemed to have vanished from my system.

I decided, since I was suddenly so restless, to do some research on my new laptop. After all, I should know _something_ about the town that I was now living in.

I ran my fingers over the smooth surface of the laptop before opening it, I could feel the little indents where the apple's outline was.

_A Mac?_ Wow.

Impatiently, I flipped open the screen and lightly pressed the on button. The screen lit up immediately. I tapped my fingers on the desk as the laptop turned on.

I couldn't believe what picture I saw on the desktop.


	4. High School

**A/N: Sooooooo sorry for the long wait!!!!! I had complete writers block an a busy week... band testing, volleyball, 5 billion tests, and a HUGE project coming up. Also I was having writers block, so sorry!**

**4. High School**

"C'mon, Renesmee, you're going to be late!" my mother called from the living room. The words were so overused. Used by parents, angrily yelling to their teen children that they'll be late for school.

My mother on the other hand, was not angry, or yelling. She was simply reminding me that I had school today, my first day.

"'Kay, just a second," I said, no louder than as if she were right next to me.

I needed reassurance; I turned to my computer screen. It wasn't a practical form of reassurance that I was seeking. What I needed was much subtler; a picture would do. _That_ picture, in particular.

The screen lit up, and the desktop became visible. My human mother, in her snow-white wedding dress, looked so beautiful. Her radiance shined from within the picture, showing her delight at getting married to my father. Blush was easily visible in her cheeks. She was cradled in my father's arms, so delicate, yet, beautiful.

My father was in a black suit that contrasted wonderfully with his pale white skin. This was such a traditional wedding picture, yet, it wasn't. A human and a vampire; predator and prey. If that was possible, then what wasn't?

There seemed to be no reason for my absurd loving of this picture, I mean, there were millions of other beautiful photos taken of my parents that I could have chosen, but this one never ceased to cause my confidence level to soar whenever I saw it.

"Coming!" I said as I dashed out of my room.

I was in a light periwinkle flowing top, skinny jeans underneath. I was in — what I knew to be — a white French winter jacket. The material was extraordinarily thin, but so warm… it had quickly become my favorite.

Alice had left my hair loose. I had requested it, I wasn't sure why.

My favorite shoes were tied snugly onto my feet. The only reason that Alice allowed me to wear them was that I absolutely refused to wear any other shoes. I even threatened to go to school barefoot. As that would have been deemed unacceptable, I was allowed to have my way.

"Renesmee, want a ride to your car?" my father said as he handed me the designer messenger bag — filled with the necessary books and school supplies.

"Okay, thanks," I said as I climbed onto his back.

Half a minute later we were standing in the entrance to the garage, hidden behind the Cullen mansion. It always puzzled me how they could possible hide such a huge garage behind the mansion.

I looked down the rows of cars, wondering which one I was meant to take. All of these would be rather conspicuous. These were probably the only cars that I could identify, thanks to my father and Jacob's obsessing.

First in the line was Rosalie's M3, next to it, was the huge Jeep that was easily distinguishable as belonging to Emmett. Alice's bright yellow Porsche was alongside Jaspers Ducati, which had been given to him as a present from my father.

My mother and father's cars — a Ferrari, Volvo, and an Aston Martin — were lined with perfect precision near the end of the line. Carlisle's Mercedes followed.

Next in line was Jacob's new car, a Ferrari Fiorano. He never let me forget _that_, since he nearly died when my father gave it to him. He still drooled over the leather interior and footspace.

"A Ferrari. No. Way," he was nearly speechless once he found out that the modified Ferrari was to be his new car.

"Rose worked on it a little, enlarging the cabin and working on the engine," my father explained.

The whole day was spent with Jake, driving around in his new car.

I noticed the dark colored car that was parked in the end of the garage.

"Is it new?" I asked, curiously, taking a few steps sideways to get a better look.

"Yes. It is. It's a Mercedes Guardian, slightly modified, of course," my father answered. "Oh, and, it's for you."

No way. A car.

"Are you serious? Oh. My. God!" I asked loudly, I was very excited.

"Yes, we figured that you would want your own means of transportation. Correction, means of human transportation," my father answered, even he sounded excited.

"Rose worked on this one too. She tweaked the engine, repainted it, replaced the windows, and redid the body styling to make it more to your liking. We didn't think you wanted to be to conspicuous," my mother added, "I know I didn't." She was referring to the fact of how darkly colored the whole car was, normally.

This particular car was not the gloomy black that the normal model was. It was a pretty silver, with a hint of blue. Beautiful!

"Thank you so much! A Guardian! Still overprotective?" I asked rhetorically.

"Naturally," my father answered anyway. "It's the same basic model that I gave Bella when her Chevy broke down." We all laughed.

"Wow," I said again, "but… one problem. I don't have a license."

"Don't worry, we took care of that." Jasper and Alice came in from behind us, with a smirk plastered on Jasper's face. Jasper was holding a small piece of shiny plastic in his outstretched palm, the cause of his amusement. "J. Jenks was blessed with another visit of the Cullen family," he and my mother laughed, along with Alice.

"Inside joke, I'll tell you later," I heard my mother explain to him under her breath. "Renesmee, you should hurry, you'll be late!" she pointed out to me.

"Good point, have a good time while I'm gone."

"We put your cell phone in that bag too, just in case," my father said.

"Okay, let's see how this thing drives! Bye!" I said as I climbed into the car.

The garage door slid open in front of me as I tossed my bag into the passenger seat and put my seatbelt on; safety first — as I was always taught. And, running into a policeman while speeding with my seatbelt off wouldn't be a good start for my first day of school.

"Please, stay under 120," my mother added anxiously, my father thought driving over 120 miles per hour was great fun, but not for me — the fragile half-human.

"Okay," I promised as I put the car in gear and sped out of the garage.

I drove through the winding driveway at a moderate fifty-nine miles per hour, and picked up the pace when I got onto the main highway.

If there was a speed trap anywhere near hear, I would see them before they saw me.

Glancing down at the speedometer, I eased off of the gas pedal. "Stay under 120."

Before long, the car was smoothly slowing down — morning traffic.

I was driving at a steady 20 miles per hour. I would preferably be driving faster. But there was nothing I could do about Forks' morning rush.

Finding Forks High School was not very hard. Human eyes could have missed the small sign at the school entrance, but it was easy enough for me.

I quickly parked the car, perfectly, in one try. Driving was fun.

There were only a few cars in the parking lot, most of which were old, rundown-looking. Great. My car was still conspicuous. Its shiny new paint job stood out against the dull colors of the other cars.

I had unknowingly parked in front of the school office. I slung my bag over my shoulder and walked into the room.

The walls were covered in a light lavender paint that made the small green plants stand out even more. A large desk ran across the middle of the room, with a gate leading to the other side.

The room was warm, almost uncomfortably so. Hopefully this would be quick.

"Um… hi," I said shyly to the wrinkled lady at the desk. "I'm Renesmee Cullen, I just moved here."

"Oh," she looked up and seemed stunned for a moment, "Renesmee? Oh! Hello, welcome! So how has Forks treated you so far?" No way this was going to be quick. The lady was so talkative!

"Great. Uh… I was wondering, where are my classes?" I was desperately trying to change the subject.

"Of course! Anyways, I'm Mrs. Clapp. My husband is the P.E. teacher," she explained while she searched through a filing cabinet.

Half a minute later she pulled out a file with my name on it. Her eyes widened.

"Cullen?" she sounded flabbergasted, "As in, C-U-L-L-E-N?"

She was spelling out my name now. Wonderful. "Um… Yeah."

"Can I have a list of my classes?" I was getting anxious. This woman knew something.

"Oh," she snapped out of her trance, "of course," she handed me a two papers, one with a list of classes, the other with a highlighted route to each one.

"Thanks," I said and quickly left the room.

As I examined the slightly damp pieces of paper more scrupulously, I noticed a yellow slip clipped onto the second sheet. There were six lines on the paper; I assumed that these were for my teachers to sign.

There were six classes listed:

1. English

2. Spanish

3. Trigonometry

4. Government

5. Lunch

6. Biology II

7. P.E.

Wow. I had the same classes as my parents did when they were here, only, in a different order.

Spanish? That was interesting, I already spoke fluently in Spanish, Chinese, French, Latin, and — of course — English. I guess they knew I wanted all of my classes to match theirs.

As I pulled the car out of the parking stall, I noticed that more and more spaces were being filled.

Despite my parent's best efforts, my gleaming car still stood out against the dull paint jobs, and old styles of the vehicles owned by the rest of the Forks High student body.

I could feel the stares of the Forks teenagers boring into my back.

It didn't take long to find an open parking stall. I pulled in, going a little slower and less skillfully as I usually would have.

I took a quick breath before stepping out of the car.

The scent of the humans assaulted me the moment I opened the door. I took quick, shallow breaths to try to get used to the pungent aroma. The burn in my throat was worse than ever before. I vaguely wondered if it came anywhere near the pain a normal vampire would have been experiencing.

It was harder than usual to push the burn to the back of my mind. But, I had more important things to worry about.

I glanced at the paper with my classes listed on it: English- Building 1.

I inhaled deeply, gritting my teeth. I didn't want to be responsible for any human deaths.

Unluckily, Building 1 was the closest to the parking lot. The warmth and smell of the humans would be so much stronger in the building.

I tried to walk more ungainly than normal, to seem more human. The task was harder than I initially thought.

By the time I opened the door to Building 1 I was practiced enough at resisting the burn in my throat that it was possible to push to the back of my mind. The closeness in the building didn't affect me as I thought it would.

My father was right; after a few weeks I would get used to this.

I imagined how hard it must have been for my family to come to school, thirsty. I inhaled deeply.

On my left was room 103. Here it goes, I said, trying to reassure myself.

There was that odd smell in the air again. It seemed relatively familiar, but so out of place here.

I opened the door to the Junior English room. There were a few students already in the room, and noticing my entrance, immediately shot out of their seats and strode in my direction.

"Hi, Renesmie…?" a young boy with cropped, chestnut brown hair said uncertainly.

I remembered that the same thing happened to my mother when she came to Forks. _Everyone _knew her name, and a bit more.

"Hi, it's pronounced Ruh-nez-may," I said clearly to all of them.

"Oh… sorry! It's just, uh…"

"A weird name?" I giggled.

"Yeah," the boy laughed too. "Anyways, my name's Gavin, and I, er, guess I'm in your English class." He sounded incredibly enthused.

"Coo—." The blond boy next to Gavin cut me off.

"I'm Nick," he smiled, "Ever heard of me? Quarterback? Football team? Na, guess not, you're new?" His hazel eyes matched the color of one of the girls that was gaping at me in the parking lot.

"Um… No to the first three, and yes to the last," he was the popular, jock stereotype.

"So, Ruh-nez-may," his imitation of how I said my name was pretty good, "how's Forks treating you?"

"Pretty good, I just moved in so…" something felt wrong, the atmosphere seemed happy enough, but there was something off, something that I couldn't place.

"I have to get this signed," I held up the yellow slip of paper, "so, excuse me."

I finally had a chance to look around the room; it was the same shade of pastel yellow that was in the office. It looked like the average classroom, the kind that you see in movies. There were about twenty desks, and the teacher's, a bookshelf, and some writing posters. Simple.

The teacher saw the yellow slip curled in my fingers and immediately said, "Hi, Renesmee, is it?" she actually pronounced my name right, there must have been a pronunciation key somewhere on my application.

"Yeah," I said as I handed her the slip.

"I'm Mrs. Burke. Nice to meet you. Anyway, class is going to start soon, so find a seat."

I strode to the back of the classroom; I would be less conspicuous in the back.

A loud ringing noise — the bell ¬— rang; a few seconds after the ringing started, and a horde of students came in through the door.

Mrs. Burke turned on the fan in the room. I had turned my head to look out the window to my left.

The taunting aroma of the humans wafted over to me, but, luckily, by now, I was used to it.

Then a different scent came over to me. I recognized it immediately. The scent was impossible to explain… _exquisite_, for a lack of a better word.

There was one thing in the world that could possible have that melodious mix of fragrances. A vampire.


	5. Vampires!

**A/N: Okay, hi. Sooo sorry it took so long to update! Yeah, we were all having some problems with not having software, or even computers to write and edit. So, I finally got the chapter out!!! I want to thank my amazing friends who have been editing my various chapters for me before I post them. Thank you! too VampireWolf0131 (she likes the mysteriousness), Mary, Amanda, and Sarah for editing my chapters. (all of them didn't edit _each_ chapter. They each edited a few, just clarifying.)**

**Hope you enjoy!**

5. Vampire?

My head whirled at an inhuman pace, questions and half-formed thoughts floundering about in my mind. I stared into the liquid gold eyes, on a face so beautiful, so perfect, that it could belong only to a vampire.

This vampire, apparently, had noticed me too. His expression hardened the moment he took in the scent of the room, his body tensing as if in anticipation of an attack.

He came towards me down the aisle and sat down in the nearest empty seat. His gait was a little too quick, fluid, and graceful which put me at ease. On the contrary, it was scary. If I were in his place I would've done the exact same thing.

I decided that once I got away from this vampire I would call the house. There was almost always _someone_ home. I'd tell them that there was a problem, and explain in detail when I got home.

I breathed calmly and slowly. There was only one problem with my plan. What if he didn't leave me alone? To stay away from me would be the most sensible thing to do, but who ever said that vampires were level-headed or sensible?

While I debated constantly in my mind I heard a low snarl. Too low for and humans to hear, it was not meant for them. I swallowed.

When things settled down in the classroom I heard another snarl, this time to get my attention. As if I wasn't paying attention to him. I was aware of his every movement, my instincts warring with civility. I knew I had to stay put in class, and act like a normal person, but what I most wanted to do was to dash out of class and not look back.

Mrs. Burke had started a lesson on poetry. I wasn't paying much attention. It was more than likely that I was capable of writing better poetry than her. The individual in the seat next to me required my undivided attention.

"After class. Meet me in the forest," he whispered, his perfect lips barely even moving.

I spent the rest of the class pondering if I should go or not. Or how my family could have missed this vampire's scent on their recent sweep of the surrounding area.

The bell rang much sooner than I wanted it too. _Time to go_, I thought to myself.

_You'd better not pull any tricks on me, vampire. I have coven members in this school._

This disturbed me. The vampires voice, hissing those words in my mind. There was no way I could have imagined it. It was too real.

.•º◊º•.

I tossed my bag at the bottom of a tree, the dense layers of needles above blocking out almost all sunlight. The light that was filtered though was green, and it gave the forest an eerie look to it… Almost as if the forest was waiting, waiting for someone. And I knew who.

I had known that this wasn't a good idea. It was probably a trap, but curiosity had won. I had to know why this vampire was here.

All I had was my phone, my finger on the emergency button. All I had to do was push that button and all of the Cullen vampires — and Jacob — would be here in two minutes at the most.

A twig cracked behind me. I spun around in a crouch, hands ready to defend myself. I had constantly reminded myself not to make any sudden movements, but instinct had won. What I was previously going for was a calm, poised exterior, not a defensive, spastic one.

"Who are you? What do you want?" the vampire angrily questioned, without so much as a short preamble. It looked as if I were about to go through the Spanish Inquisition.

"I should be asking you that," I knew the line was overly used but it seemed so appropriate here.

"Hey, I'm not planning to kill you. But the _werewolves _will if you don't get off of their land," he chuckled, his angry mood vanishing.

I snapped, "Jacob would _never_ hurt any of us!" I was almost screaming. I stopped before any humans could hear me, or before I gave away any important information.

"Jacob?" he seemed confused for a second. Then his expression became hard, almost mocking as he spat, "you're bluffing. There's no 'Jacob' in the pack."

That was not forgivable. He did _not_ just insult Jacob.

"Jacob is the alpha in the _other _pack! Plus, Claire is one of my best friends! She wouldn't let Sam hurt me. Directly or indirectly."

That really shocked him. "You… know Sam?"

"Yes. My family made a treaty with the pack more than a century ago."

"Centuries? Wait, how many of you are there? In your family, I mean."

I didn't want to give too much away to him. "More than you need to know."

That shocked him even more. "I assume that you have only had the treaty with the wolves for only a few years?"

"Yeah…" he was still thinking, answering mechanically, "two years. Nasty surprise when we came."

There was a pause while he thought of a way to win this debate.

I, however, was certain that I could hold my own in this disagreement. But… I felt that we could maybe make a treaty later, so they wouldn't get kicked out of their home.

I broke the silence, saying, "Well, if we can think up of a treaty or agreement of some sort later, that would be great. How about lunch?"

His relief showed instantly, and he uttered a brief "thanks" before slipping off to his next class.

My teachers had quickly learned that I was nearly as capable as they were of teaching each class. I was seldom called on. Whenever a teacher felt the need to include me, which I was thankful of — it helped distract me from the matter at hand — I gave the correct answer.

My Spanish teacher, Ms. Agueda, was told in the beginning of class that I was already fluent in Spanish, as well as the three other languages that the school taught.

I had taken Spanish, one, because my mother and father took it, and two because it was my favorite language out of the four. I had grow up speaking a lot of Spanish, it had kind of sunk in.

The bell rang for lunch. I was waiting for it. Now I would, finally, get some answers.

I ended up being one of the first into the cafeteria. Making my way to a slightly secluded table in the corner of the room, I wrote a text message to Claire. She would worry if I didn't send her a message by the end of the day.

_The day was GREAT so far! All of these classes are a breeze! So, how's 5__th__ going? I feel like an older sister! Anyway, tell Sam I said hi._

Claire was only ten, but understood me better than any other human did, and quickly became my best human friend.

The moment I hit send, I smelled the scent of vampire. I slid my phone into my pocket, within easy reach if things got bad.

"Hello," I started.

"Hi," the tall vampire replied. I hadn't paid much attention to his features before, but now I looked more carefully.

His golden brown hair was cropped to two or three inches, falling around his golden eyes.

Like all vampires he had ivory colored skin and was incredibly beautiful. He was tall, as tall as my father at the least, but it hardly did him justice. He had to be one of the most gorgeous vampires I had ever seen.

At the time I wasn't sure if it was the knowledge of something dangerous or the mingling aroma of the humans that caused me to think this, but he did look handsome.

"What do you want to know?" he lightened up a bit. I assumed he didn't want to scare the humans into a seizure.

"Your name?"

"Luke, rather common," he laughed. A surprising contrast from only hours before, all of the hostility had just vanished. "Yours?"

"Renesmee."

"Renesmee?" he pronounced my name flawlessly, "Weird name. How'd you come by it?"

"My mother is very creative. Her mom and mother-in-law's name put together," I wasn't sure if I should share that many details, yet. But I felt relatively safe now; if he wanted to kill me, he could have done so when we were in the forest, alone.

"Oh. I see. My sister, Raine, should be here soon. You have a big family. You must have fosters too?"

I nodded.

"So, what was that…" I wasn't completely sure how to explain, "earlier. When I heard you… in my head?"

"You do know at least one gifted vampire, right?" he, somehow, sounded irritated and amused at the same time. "I can out my own thoughts into peoples heads."

I stopped breathing. A mistake, apparently, as I had inherited the human need to breathe.

"You… c-can d-do that… too?" I stuttered and squeaked the last word out.

"Yeah, wait. You mean you're gifted? With the _same_ power?" he was probably just as shocked at I was, but better at hiding it.

Our conversation had begun to get softer and softer as we discussed supernatural gifts.

"Yes, but I have to touch the person, like this," I placed my palm on his extended forearm.

_See, almost like yours,_ I told him. He jumped back in his seat a little. _But I can show pictures too, _I replayed the last few seconds of what I saw in the cafeteria.

"What are you doing to my brother?" an angry soprano voice said from behind me.

"Don't worry, sis. This is Renesmee. She had a family and was here a few centuries ago," he explained efficiently. I had a feeling that he was telling her something else but I didn't ask.

"Oh, well hi, then! I'm Raine. I see you've met my obnoxious brother?" She was very peppy and enthusiastic. Alice-like was the only word that I could explain it with.

I nodded. "Raine? Wow, that's such a pretty name!" It was true. I loved the way the name sounded when I said it.

"So is Renesmee! It's so original!"

"Thanks," I smiled.

Raine was incredibly nice. I knew a few vampires who had very bloated heads, she definitely wasn't one of them.

Raine looked sporty, but was well dressed. I absently wondered if she had Alice secretly creating her wardrobe.

Her hair was slightly darker than Luke's, closer to auburn than golden brown. It was pulled back into a loose bun that suited her perfectly. Her build was close to that of Rosalie's, except on a smaller scale. She was about my height, maybe a half-inch or so shorter.

She was very pretty. I felt pale — not in the literal sense — next to her.

I wasn't surprised that the humans stayed away

She took a seat next to mine. I ended up telling her a lot more about myself than I had intended.

Within minutes we were best friends. Aside from one fact, that is. I wasn't completely sure that my parents would accept these two vampires.

I found out a lot about Raine and Luke during lunch. Raine was born — as in the beginning of her human life — in 1873, and was changed in 1891.

Luke was more reluctant to share details, and I was sure that he was mentally reprimanding Raine for being so open with a stranger.

"He hit his head a lot when he was human," Rae, her nickname, told me after a particularly rude comment on Luke's part. We both giggled.

Luke was not a bad _person_… just not very trusting.

I somehow managed to avoid too many questions about my family. Raine was the talkative type. There was still a chance that giving away too many details could turn out badly for me later.

The lunch bell rang, sooner then I wanted it too. I got up to go to my next class, Biology II.

"So, what's your next class?" Raine asked. Luke still didn't trust me. I didn't trust him either, but — not to brag — I thought that I was slightly better at hiding it.

"Biology II."

"No way!" she gasped, "With Mr. Stagner?"

I nodded.

"Oh my God! _Yes_!" she sounded elated, "we have the same class! Luke, Luke! Isn't that great!" it didn't sound like a question.

"Yeah," Luke was still trying to hide his emotions from me, "it's wonderful."

"Don't worry about him," Raine whispered to me, "he's not usually this rude."

"Oh? I would have never known," we both laughed.

Raine was so much like Alice that it was kind of scary.

"Oh! And, Ness," I had told her my nickname, "you should put your jacket on. Humans _really_ don't like getting wet and cold. Normal humans, anyway."

"Thanks," I mumbled whilst putting my jacket on. I was grateful for the reminder. I wasn't a big fan of being wet and cold at the same time.

"Ready?" Luke and Rae said together.

I nodded.

Building 3 was exactly like the rest of the buildings in Forks High. It had the same red brick walls and rectangular shape. The buildings suited their surroundings perfectly.

The Biology room was almost exactly the same as how my mother had explained it to me. I had inquired on the subject so many times, in so much detail, that the classroom, already, seemed familiar and safe.

Safe, aside the fact that there were two other vampires in it, and I wasn't sure if one of them wanted to be my friend or murder me.

The last few students walked in the door, most of their gazes focused on me. I wasn't a big fan of too much attention. Having people listen to you was nice, but everyone _staring_ at you was a wholly different matter.

"Don't worry," Raine assured me. I had been getting reassured a lot lately. "The buzz about you will die down in a month or so."

I groaned and slid back in my chair. A month of being the center-of-attention was _not_ my idea of a 'good first month' at school.

"Hey, Renesmee!" two girls came up to my desk, smiling.

"Hi," I answered with only slightly less enthusiasm. The whole 'center-of-attention for a month' news had left a thin layer of gloom on my emotions, masking my enthusiasm.

"Where were you at lunch?" the girl on the right said.

"Me?"

"Yes, you!" she answered. "I'm Ashley, this is Vanessa," she gestured to the girl next to her.

"Is your nickname Ness?" I asked, amused.

She nodded. I didn't have to pay to close attention to know that she was shy.

"Well, there's one thing we have in common, Ness" I smiled and Ness laughed. It felt weird to be calling someone else by my nickname. I guessed that I'd have to get used to it.

Ashley seemed disappointed that she didn't have something like that in common with me, like a nickname.

"Oh. That's cool," Ashley said with as much enthusiasm as she could. I knew that it was fake, but she tried. She looked at Luke and Rae, sitting on either side of me. "I guess we'll talk to you after class. Bye."

She pulled Ness away towards the nearest empty seats.

"Well, that was interesting," Rainee said softly once they were sitting in their seats, "I don't think that they like us." She pouted. "Oh well, that's normal."

I giggled.

"That girl, Ashley," she added, "tried to ask Luke out once. You should have _seen_ his face!"

"Shut up!" Luke mumbled.

I giggled again.

The rest of the day went by smoothly. No other vampires turned out to be my classmates.

I found out that Raine and Luke were in most of my afternoon classes. They proved themselves to be pretty nice throughout the day. Luke was still only showing a hard shell of himself, but I got the feeling that he would be really nice under different circumstances.

The final bell rang. I was sure that Raine wouldn't let Luke follow me home, so I was peaceful.

It turned out that they lived in a few miles out of Forks. Just like my family.

I was comforted by the fact that they couldn't live too close, or else my family would have noticed them.

We separated at the end of the day to go to our cars. And they happened to be parked on opposite sides of the lot.

"Okay, then," Rae started, "guess I'll see you tomorrow. Bye!"

"'Kay, bye, Rae," I answered, "and bye, Luke."

He nodded and muttered his goodbyes.

I let them start walking to their car before I went to mine. I didn't suspect them very much, but my mother and father wouldn't be happy if I didn't take every precaution possible before I was sure about them.

I climbed into my car and turned my phone on. There were three texts from Claire. They were all from only a few minutes ago — her school let out earlier than mine, she was younger, after all.

_OMG! Today was soo funny! Remind me 2 tell u about it later!_

The second message read: _Oh! I forgot 2 tell u, try 2 invite me and Sam over. I can't text my whole day!_

The third message: _So? How was your 1__st__ day?_

I decided that she would freak out if I didn't reply to her texts.

_I'll tell you when you come over, ok? There's too much to text! But it was great!_

I put my phone away and started the drive home.


	6. Sunny

**A/N: OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!! I AM THE MOST SORRY PERSON IN THE UNIVERSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I haven't been able to post anything in soooooo long!!! Soooo sorry!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hate to make excuses, but I seriously had no time to write, I hope that I'll have some more time from now on (please). I made this chapter a little longer than usual... hope you enjoy =D**

6. Sunny

I drove silently, trees flashing by as green and brown streaks.

The sky in Forks frowned, its gray smudged sky glowering from above. The clouds were blocking the light from my thoughts and ideas. Light. That was what I needed.

I pulled the car over to the side of the road and got out.

One of Forks' everlasting showers of rain drizzled lightly on my head. I didn't bother with an umbrella. The chilled drops were refreshing and helped clear the dubious fog out of my mind.

I ran in the direction of a small mountain, weaving between trees as I went.

A little more than a minute later I was at the top of the mountain, leaning against a sturdy tree to catch my breath.

The peak of the mountain was almost free of clouds; sunlight bathing the mountainside. I gazed at the splendor surrounding me, drinking in the beauty of nature. Towering pine trees reached up towards the heavens, emerald light reflecting off glistening dew. Earthy scents swirled around me, a heady aroma that made me tilt my head back and draw in deep, calming breaths. A breeze came in from the west, cool tendrils of mist caressing my skin.

I stood completely still, my smooth, pale skin glowing in the rays of light.

I stayed there for half an hour, thinking.

Suddenly Jake was right next to me. I hadn't even noticed his approach.

"You shouldn't do that, you know," he said sternly, gazing at the sky. "You almost gave Bella a heart– hm… a shriveled dried up organ attack." I giggled, Jake was always the one who could make me smile, no matter what mood I was in.

"Sorry, just needed some thinking time," I replied.

"Sorry, but… do you think you could think on the road? Bella and Edward looked like they might even call _her_ to come and find you."

"_Her_?" I asked, mimicking his emphasis on the word.

"Yeah, Leah. Her sense of smell has been getting better lately, maybe her nose was stuck from all the vampire B.O." we both laughed. "So, about getting on the road?" He knelt down, and offering for me to climb onto his back. I accepted, My clothes were damp and cold from the run up the mountain, and Jake's shirtless back was warm and oh so familiarly comforting.

I was more tired than I thought. My eyelids became heavier and my blinks much more frequent.

"Almost there," Jake said as he hopped easily over a fallen log, sensing my exhaustion.

"Mmhn…" was all I could manage before falling into the blurry, dizzied state of dreams.

"Ness? Ness."

I woke up to a gentle nudge from Jake. We were parked in my new space in the garage.

"Oh. Sorry!" I blurted out, "I didn't know how tired I was."

"It's okay," he said with a smile. "You're apologizing a lot today."

I nodded and leaned back in the soft satiny chair.

"What's wrong?" Jake asked a little more seriously.

"Nothing," I lied, what I thought was a smooth lie, but, apparently was not good enough.

"Ness," he was staring into my eyes, my very soul, "I've known you since you were born, been with you almost every day since then. Do you really think you can lie to me?"

"Fine."

"I'm guessing you'd rather kill two— no three— non-humans with one stone? Want me to go get Bella and Edward?" You'd have to admit, Jacob did know me very well. He was like my best friend, older brother, and sometimes more. And he loved showing it off, not in front of my parents, of course.

I nodded and he was out of the car, heading towards the door that led straight into the house.

Less than ten seconds later he was coming back out the same door, my parents in tow.

"Renesmee!" my mother said running up to hug me. I welcomed the embrace and mumbled my apology in her ear.

"Edward," she said looking at my father accusingly, "refused to tell me what was happening. He said you'd tell us yourself."

"Yeah, sorry I'm late. I took a little detour into the mountains. It was nice and sunny on the peak. I needed to… think."

"It's okay. Just tell us next time you take a 'detour.'" She finished.

"Okay. And what was this I heard about Leah?"

"She spent a some time hanging around La Push while we were gone," my father explained.

"Away from all you vamps," Jake added with a smirk, earning an annoyed glance from my mother.

"Anyway," he continued, "Jacob," he glared at Jake, "has, since then, noticed that Leah's sensed are much sharper than before."

"Yep, great isn't it?" Jake said using heavy sarcasm, "Now she can smell your guys' cooking almost as soon as I can."

"Jake, Edward," my mother started, "I know you're just trying to cheer Renesmee up, but can you _please_ get to the matter at hand? I don't know what it is, yet, but _something's _wrong." She didn't have to be a mind reader to read me.

There was a few seconds of silence while she fumed.

"She's right," my father said.

Jake nodded.

"Th– there were other vampires, at school." My breath seemed to have left me after just one short sentence.

"There were _what's_?!" my parent's and Jacob said in unison as they began fluttering around me, checking for any unobvious injuries while I replayed my day for them.

"You heard me right," I sighed and stepped away from their scrupulous inspection. "But I'm fine. They don't seem hostile."

"_Seem_ being the key word," my mother's voice was full of concern. "What _are _we going to do about this…?" she asked no one in particular.

"I could always just go back and sort things out tomorrow," I offered.

I got three, loud, responses at the exact same moment. All of them were _NO_.

"You are _not _going back there. Especially alone," my mother was stern but caring.

"Yes," I answered cautiously, "but how else can we solve this dilemma? It's not like you guys can just show up at school. At least _one_ of the teachers is _bound_ to recognize you! I'm the only new face… unless… there's Jake?"

They all looked at each other, considering the idea.

"No," my mother crossed her arms.

"Absolutely not," my father moved closer to her, if that was possible.

Jake stood completely still with his hand holding up his head in a classic "thinking position."

"I don't know," he said finally, "You two," he indicated my parents, "could hide somewhere on campus and listen in. I would be with Ness the whole time, and if there was any trouble, you'd know."

The plan did sound good, not yet flawless, but a good start.

"That's… possible," my father answered. "But how would you be able to stay with Nes–Renesmee," he corrected, "all day? Say you were there on a campus tour before you entered in the winter semester?"

"Exactly," Jake grinned.

"Very straightforward, but it may work… No riding the motorcycle to school. We'll be watching." They quietly exited the room and headed up the stairs.

My parents knew that I would want some time alone with Jake to discuss.

"How in the _world_ did you convince them to do that?" I asked once my parents had cleared the stairs, and we had cleared the front door.

"Not sure," he replied, slipping my favorite coat onto my shoulders. "Maybe they're just beginning to trust you more?"

"You're lying." I smiled, contradicting my words.

"Yes, but the terms of the engagement aren't what we should be discussing right now."

"Fine. What should we be discussing?" I asked as we jumped over the river near the mansion.

"Tomorrow."

.•º◊º•.

"C'mon Ness," I woke up to see Jacob leaning over my bed. "Rise and shine, sweetie," he smiled. "Today we may or may not kick some vampire butt."

"Haha. But really, please don't hurt them. They're really nice," my voice cracked a few times due to the usual morning grogginess.

"Fine, but get ready. Don't wanna be late," he said as he left the room to give me some privacy.

I glanced around my room, taking note of the outfit that was set out for me on the dresser; a yellow v-neck blouse and a pair of dark, stonewashed jeans. I also noticed a pair of bright yellow stilettos sitting on the floor near the dresser but ignored them. Converse went with everything.

I got dressed and sat on the bed, watching dust motes float around in their everlasting dance towards the floor.

I pulled open the curtain, expecting the dreary gray hues of the usual Forks sky. Instead I was met with a beautiful ray of glowing sunlight.

"Crap!" I nearly yelled, sending Jake and my parents barreling into the room.

"What's wrong?" my mother asked.

"Look," I gestured towards the window. "Didn't you three notice?"

They all shook their heads.

"Let me guess? Checking the basement for rats? Or something like that?" I was somewhere between throwing my hands up in exasperation and rolling on the ground laughing.

"Something like that," Jake said. "Even so. You're not going to school alone, if the vampires can go or not. I'm going with you," he smiled brightly, making everything from my toes to my forehead tingle in pleasure.

"We'll stay in the shadows," my mother said.

"You aren't alone, love," I looked away, so did Jake.

"We'll… uh… meet you by the car," Jake said to my otherwise occupied parents.

"Well that was random," I said once we were in the garage.

"Yeah, you never know with those two. I swear they're worse than Rosalie and Emmett."

Luckily we didn't have to wait too long for my parents to come back to reality and meet us.

"Sorry," my mother muttered, having developed a sudden interest in her shoes. If she could, she would have blushed.

"It's okay," I replied, "So? Are we ready to leave?"

They all nodded.

Jake started walking to the drivers side door.

"Jake?"

"Yeah?" he said turning around to look at me.

"It would look weird, me giving you a tour, and you driving."

He acknowledged with a nod and jumped over the roof of my car.

"Hey!" I protested, "it's brand new!"

"Sorry, don't worry, nothing happened to it. I'm that good," he grinned and I couldn't help smiling back.

"See you later," my mother said with a grin before she and my father left, walking gracefully out the open garage door.

Jake slid into the car and I did the same.

"Drive fast," he whispered. "See if we can beat 'em." He saw my wicked grin and corrected himself, "Not _that_ fast."

I rolled my eyes and started the car.

.•º◊º•.

Jake stepped out of the car and sniffed the air, I did the same.

"Aww, they beat us," he stated lightheartedly. He was right. The unmistakable scent of vampire lingered around the outskirts of the school, it was my parent's scents. My mother's, sweet and lightly floral, melded cohesively with my father's slightly bolder scent: a melodious mix of many unnamable components.

The parking lot was empty, we, sadly, were not early, but late.

"C'mon," I gestured for Jake to follow, "I think we need to go check in at the office. Remember, I'm giving you a tour, look like a tourist." I began walking and Jake followed.

On the bright side, it was… bright. The sun was out, casting a warming glow on my skin, quite contradicting my emotions. A shiver ran down my spine. What would happen if my family didn't accept Luke and Raine? Where would they go? Would I ever see them again? I had known them for a day, but it felt like a century.

Apparently the churning thoughts in my head were visible on my face. Suddenly I was swept off of my feet by warm, comforting, arms.

"You were paler than a sheet," Jake said worriedly. "Looked like you were about to collapse. And that is not happening."

"It's okay, I'm fine!" he looked skeptical. "I was just thinking about some things… don't worry. I'll be fine! Plus, the sun's out. That _has_ to be a good sign."

"I'm still carrying you," he said tersely, "I know where the office is. Previous engagements here…" He trailed off, staring at my face.

He carried me, his feet taking silent steps on the ground, staring at me all the while.

"Jake," I said, "Jake. Jake!" he finally awoke from his reverie.

"Huh?" he responded stupidly, still staring at me.

"Um… you're kinda scaring me… the staring…" I giggled.

"Sorry!" he quickly looked away.

I looked forward.

"Jake?"

"Yeah?" he smiled, looking back down at me.

"You're going to ram into a wall soon," I stated.

He quickly looked up and stopped immediately, inches away from the office door.

"You can put me down now," I whispered.

My feet found the floor and I opened the door, ushering Jake into the office, putting on my host act.

"… And this is the office," I said to him as he stepped through the door.

Mrs. Clapp Looked up from her paperwork.

"Oh! Renesmee!" she paused, "Um… who is this?" she finished with a questioning smile.

"Oh, Sorry! Mrs. Clapp, this is Jacob…" I looked at him. Silently begging for help.

"Wolfe. Jacob Wolfe," he grinned.

"I'm giving him a tour of the campus, that's why we're so late. I had to pick him up from Port Angeles. Sorry," I explained.

"Well, that's okay, I guess… but it's only your second day here. Would you like me to elect another student to do it for you?" she asked

"Oh, no. That's okay. He's an old family friend," I replied steadily, after all. I knew my way around this place much better then she thought. "Would it be okay if he sat in on my classes too?"

"Yes, that would be perfectly okay," she mumbled as she scribbled some notes and her signature on a small slip of paper. "Here, she handed me the tardy slip, with notes in the margins explaining Jake's presence.

"Thanks!" I beamed, ushering Jake out of the office and waving my goodbyes to Mrs. Clapp.

"Welcome," she resumed her paperwork as the door closed behind us with a thump.

"Well," Jake began once we were a few steps away from the office, and back in the warm light of the sun. "I did some pretty good improvising, didn't I?" he said smugly, with a hint of sarcasm.

"Yeah. Suuurrrrreeeeeeee," I giggled. "Jake _Wolfe_. I recollect a similar name from… oh. Seven years ago?"

"I know," he replied smoothly, grinning, "That's why it's so amazing."

We both began laughing so hard that I was sure my parents could hear us from wherever they were.

The walk to the English building was a relatively short one, Jake seemed to have forgotten about my "near-collapsing"-spell earlier and let me walk the whole way without his help. I opened the door slowly, letting Jake in before me.

"… so this is where the English and language classes are held," I acted as if I had been explaining things for a while, just in case anyone was listening. "Here." I stopped in front of the entrance to my English classroom, room 103. "This is my classroom," I quietly opened the door, only to interrupt Ms. Burke in the middle of a particularly long sentence.

I saw a few faces relax in relief as the whole class looked towards me, I blushed. Of course. It was a trait I had inherited from my mother.

I stepped forward, allowing Jake into the room, a few student's jaws dropped in surprise. I had almost forgotten how big Jake was compared to most of them.

The walk across the small classroom was made treacherous by all the stares and open mouths.

"Hi, Ms. Burke," I began respectfully. "Sorry we're so late. I have a slip from Mrs. Clapp," I handed her the piece of paper.

"Oh," she said after she read it, I was getting a lot of those today. "I see, well you can take those two seats over there," she pointed to the back of the room, thank God.

We quickly seated ourselves, acting as if we couldn't hear all the mutterings from the other students.

Unluckily, Ms. Burke had placed me right next to Nick, and in back of Gavin. They were nice, but they had a _lot_ of questions.

"Hey," Nick tapped my arm while Ms. Burke began writing something from Shakespeare on the board. "What's with him?" he asked in a voice that, for any normal human, would have been inaudible to anyone but me. I could have sworn I saw Jake smirk.

"He's… an old family friend," I replied in a soft whisper, "he's thinking of attending this school so I'm showing him around."

"Okay. I get that. But he's so… big."

The smirk was definitely there now.

"Yeah, I know. Freaked me out the first time," I falsely admitted. "His whole families big like that, he's only a few months older then me," I felt bad for lying so much, but it had to be done.

"Oh." Said Nick, defeated. This time, I saw Gavin give a mix of a scowl and a triumphant smile.

The rest of my classes passed relatively smoothly after that, a few questions, but most people kept their distance. Until lunch.

I stepped into the cafeteria, Jake following closely, keeping up his "tourist" façade; looking around, scanning the facilities. And, judging by the random twitches of his nose, the food too.

Then something happened. Something very similar to a certain event which had happened the day before.

The scent of vampire filled the air.

**A/N: Okay!!! So that's chapter 6!!! i hope you liked it. All reviews are appreciated!!! =D**


	7. Interviews

**A/N: So here's chapter 7! I'm trying to break my horrifyingly slow speed barrier here, so it might not be the best ever, but I tried my best!!!!!!!!!! Review please!!! For the sake of my sanity!!!!**

7. Interviews

Jake noticed the scent too. His muscles tightened as he began sniffing the air. I quickly scanned the room, searching for the source of the sweet aroma that could belong to only one thing. A vampire.

"Over there," Jake growled under his breath, nodding his head in the direction of two familiar faces.

"Luke. Raine," I breathed.

"Those were the vamps you were talking about," his statement wasn't a question.

I nodded and began walking towards them, only to be interrupted by yet two more familiar faces.

"Renesmee!" Ally sounded ecstatic, "we finally found you! I mean, you'd think it wouldn't be too hard, the size of this town and all. But we didn't have a chance to talk to you before class and you left to fast, we couldn't find you," she babbled on.

"What she means is do you want to come sit with us?" Vanessa—Ness—offered.

"Um… sure, just a sec," I replied with a sheepish grin. "I think I see someone I know from Spain." I picked up Jake's hand and pulled him towards Luke and Raine.

"Is this really a good idea?" he muttered.

"Not sure," I answered truthfully. We walked straight past them, our shoulders brushing in an "you'd better come with me" gesture. Sure enough the two shocked vampires followed us out of the noisy cafeteria.

Jake led the way through the maze, people instinctively moved out of his way. You had to admit, he was quite intimidating.

Luke and Raine followed us out the door of the cafeteria. I led us through the shadows of buildings, never into a patch of sunlight. We stopped in a shady area that was out of view of the cafeteria.

My parents walked out from behind a building, keeping in a defensive crouch. They looked at Luke and Raine for a few seconds, then said in synchronization, "Follow us."

Then my father, still glaring at Luke and Raine, Luke mostly, "Renesmee, Jacob, take the car. Meet us at home."

Jake nodded we began walking towards the parking lot. I put my hand on his arm, _if anyone asks, family emergency. 'Kay?_

He nodded, picking my hand up in his.

_Dad?_ I thought, knowing he could hear me, _Don't hurt them, please? They aren't bad people, they were just here at a bad time._

We walked quickly, the gray sidewalk, warm and bright looking in the sunlight, stretching out before us. It wasn't long until we reached my new car. Jake unlocked it and unnecessarily helped me into the passenger's seat.

I squeezed his hand, still intertwined with his. He smiled at me, making the sun's warm glow finally feel complete.

_Love you, Jake, _I thought, forgetting for a moment my hand interlaced with his. The warmth of his palm traveled up my arm, causing heat to fill my cheeks.

"You know I more than love you too," he stated, "especially when you blush."

I smiled as he turned on the ignition and sped out of the lot.

My parents had, unsurprisingly, beaten us home. They were waiting outside the house, just staring at Luke and Raine, waiting for the rest of the Cullens to come.

My mother and father's eyes focused on me as I got out of the car, Jake standing protectively in front of me. I didn't see why this was such a big problem. I had survived one day without Luke or Raine attempting to kill me, I did much better than that, actually. I had become friends with them. They couldn't be _that_ dangerous.

Alice and Jasper came out of the house at the exact same moment that Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett ran out of the forest, the bright midday sun reflecting off of their skin, making it look as though they were covered in chips of crystal, glittering in the light.

My parents, Luke, and Raine remained in the shadows created by the trees, and the rest of us quickly came to stand next to them.

"So these are Luke and Raine," Carlisle said with a kind smile. "Renesmee, here, has told us quite a but about you two."

"Did she," Luke answered, neither happy nor angry — monotone. "Why's the mutt with you?"

This comment earned him a loud snarl from Jake, followed by two more as Seth and Leah came out of the trees.

"Correction, mutt_s_," Luke glared at them.

"_Luke!_" Raine scolded him and stood up. My parents lowered slightly, not to a crouch, but pretty close. "Sorry about him. He doesn't seem to appreciate the fact that we haven't been killed yet." She stopped to glare at him again. "We're sorry about the invasion of your territory, but the werewolves in La Push said that there were no vampires here. Of course," she motioned to Leah, Seth, and Jake, "those three weren't there when we made the treaty."

"So I propose that _we_ make a treaty. I do _not _want this small dispute to become a full out clan war."

I saw Carlisle and Esme's faces nod, lost in thought. All the other's faces remained indifferent. Maybe a spark of hope in my mother and Alice's, but they quickly smothered the show of emotion and refocused on the task at hand.

"A treaty…" Carlisle mused. "Are there any others of our kind with you?"

Raine looked at Luke, her eyes full of question. Then, suddenly, as if he had answered her questions —wait. Maybe he had — she turned back to Carlisle.

"Yes," she began, "Our… parents — in a sense. Much like you two."

"Then can you two take us to meet them?" Carlisle asked.

"Uhm…" Raine stuttered.

"Yes." Luke stepped forward. "They've always wanted to meet the Cullens. The original group of 'vegetarians.'"

"Would it be to imposing for you to take us to them then?" Carlisle had slowly moved forward, he was now standing between my parents and Luke. "Please," he added on a kinder note.

"Now?" Luke asked, stunned, almost.

"Yes, now would be best," stated Carlisle.

"But… um… they're kind of… how should I say… In class?" he answered.

"In class?" Emmett answered. I could tell he was about to burst out laughing. "What are they in high school?"

"No," Raine answered defensively, "they _teach_ at Forks High School," This earned her an elbow in the ribs from Luke.

"Really?" Esme was suddenly all too interesting in the conversation, "What subjects?"

"Chinese and P.E." Raine answered happily, all her stressed just seemed to have disappeared. Another elbow to the ribs, "Ow…" she mumbled and stepped away from Luke.

"We don't want to interrupt their classes," Luke stated diplomatically, still visibly uncomfortable. "We could leave a message on their phones?" he offered.

"I think not," my father said calmly. "I'm sorry to have to show this much distrust in you, but I think we'll wait till classes end and go meet them personally."

"I'm, also, terribly sorry about this," Carlisle sighed, "but my son is right. Would it be to much of an inconvenience for you two to stay with us until school ends and we can meet your parents?" he asked, but I knew it really wasn't a question.

_Yes, _I thought I saw Luke mouth, but he and Raine answered "no" at the same time.

"Come inside," Carlisle suggested. "Since we have so much time, I'd like to ask you some things." This was _Carlisle_. He was not going to torture them or anything. But I had a feeling that he wouldn't be giving them job interviews either.

Everyone walked inside except for Jake, Leah and Seth — who had remained so quiet the whole time I had almost forgotten they were there — and me. My mother gave me her, "I'll be back in a little while, don't get yourself into too much trouble" look as she closed the door behind her.

Something seemed off. I looked more carefully at Leah and Seth. Then I noticed it. Something was off on Leah's face. Her permanent scowl had softened, almost invisible. Her eyes were filled with something… odd, for her. Pure passion. Apparently Jake noticed it too.

"Hey," he said, concern flooding his voice, "Leah, what's wrong?"

**A/N: Hope this works!!**

**Leah POV** (***hopeful*) Why?**

I stepped out of the woods at the exact same time as my wonderful, idiot brother, Seth (Though I would never admit to anyone that I was fond of him). Only to be met with the words, "why's the mutt with you?" Seth and I snarled. Good little brother. "Correction, mutt_s_," the voice said. A voice that turned out to be coming from a vampire. Great. Another one.

I kept my eyes on the ground, not wanting to see the face of another leech. My mind was battling itself, half of me had an odd, curious urge to look up and see what this stupid leech looked like, the other half of me wanted to keep my eyes closed and never see another pale-skinned bloodsucker again in my life.

A few seconds of trying to ignore the leeches conversation later curiosity won out, I looked up.

The small motion of turning my head brought my nose to a really bad angle. Somehow this angle made it possible to smell the bloodsuckers a hell of a lot better. The sickly sweet smell of them made my nose hurt, but there was something off. _The half breed._ I assumed, she had always smelled funny.

There were two of the dumb leeches. One of them, the one closer to me, was a short girl with some odd shade of light brown hair. To my despair and utter hatred, I had to admit that she was pretty. All of her features matched so perfectly it was unnatural. But it was unnatural. _Immortal leeches._ I scowled at myself, for even thinking that one of these… things could look nice.

My gaze moved onto the male next to her. Only… seeing him wasn't exactly how I imagined it would be. Instead of feeling a pang of disgust at the unusual creature, something… well… clicked. Suddenly the whole world came into balance. I wasn't standing on nails, trying to hold up the sky anymore, _he _was. My world, my universe, my stupid, crazy, broken, messed up self was… was… was all centered around him.

Everything in my body, from my heart to my last strand of raggedy hair, wanted to be with him. This… feeling, no. It was more than a feeling. It was like a law of nature. I was his, and I hoped with all my heart that he was mine. He had to be mine! I would die if I couldn't be with him; my heart told me that. Skewed perspectives righted themselves, and I… think I'm in love.

I took him in. Beautiful ivory skin. Smooth as satin. Endless golden pools of eyes. I could see myself brushing his cheek, feeling its texture. Full lips, curving in a cupid's bow, hiding bright white teeth naturally smiled slightly. Lips. Teeth… _Fangs._ Oh my God. Vampire. I just _fell in love_, _imprinted, _on a _vampire_.

A vampire. A vampire! That proved how messed up I was. I could finally fall for a guy, love someone, for crying out loud! Freaking _imprint _on someone! And it was a vampire. Did the world hate me that much? No. He was the world— did God hate me this much? To finally let me find something good in my life, the one good thing that I would hate. And that would hate me…

No. It wasn't God hating on me. It was just me. I was cursed. Cursed to live in this damn life, without love. Without happiness. And when one of those did come. It was gone, like that. I found my life, my soul. And it would never be mine.

I stood there for who knows how long. The conversation going on around me was irrelevant. Thoughts churned in my head, giving me a headache.

_A vampire_, I thought, _why? Why a _vampire_? Why couldn't one stinkin' thing in my life be normal. Why couldn't I be like Quil? Or Jared? They imprinted on a _human_! Why couldn't I be like Paul? Or even—… even… Even. Even Sam._

Someone said my name, pulling me out of my trance.

"Leah, are you okay?" Jake asked, his hands holding my shoulders, if I didn't respond he would probably start shaking them.

"No!!!" I cried as I shook myself from his grip and ran into the forest.

I phased, not caring if I destroyed the clean clothes I was wearing before. If I stayed human any longer, the tears were sure to come. Even in wolf form, with the strength and speed of a true wild animal, my eyes began to water.

I ran as far away as possible, as quickly as possible.

_Thump, thump. Thump, thump._ I listened to the sound of my heart. My cold, mangled heart, as I ran blindly, trying to escape the reality of my reality. Jake had done this once, he ignored all of his human nature, only answering to the wolf. I wondered, past the aching pain in my chest, how long I could do that.

_Don't, Leah. _Jake was suddenly there.

_No. You don't know what this is like! You can order me to do anything else, but you can't stop me from doing this! _I screamed internally, a choked whimper escaped from my throat. _Didn't you see him! That! THE WHOLE FREAKING WORLD HATES ME!!!!!!!!!!! _I fell onto the wet moss and rocks of the forest floor in anguish. Phasing back to my human form to get away from Jake and Seth.

Rain began to fall, clouds obscuring the sun. Just like my completely screwed up emotions. The rain, rain that I assumed to be freezing cold, fell on me, soaking me to the bone in seconds. Broken twigs and sharp rocks made the ground uncomfortable. But, hey, didn't I deserve that too? Heh. Why don't I just savor the pain? Enjoy it? God was just making fun of me. Watching my soul be chipped away and torn apart in his game. _Are you entertained? _I thought, _Are all of you entertained, just watching me? Want anymore entertainment? I'm going to be used up soon. I'm just an empty mannequin, with a broken heart and broken lungs. I'm suffocating, dying slowly._ Only question; how much longer until I breathe my last breath? I might have already. I don't know. Too much weight burdening me, pushing me to the ground. Why don't I just lie here forever?

_Don't think, Leah. Don't think._ Fall into the realms of sleep. Sleep was less painful than reality.

◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊

I woke up dry and comfortable in a warm bed. _They found me_, was my first thought. I looked around and inhaled an all too familiar sickly sweet scent. Yep.

I didn't move, breathing slowly and deeply, attempting to feign sleep. Why couldn't they have left me alone on that forest floor? Alone so I could wallow in misery _without_ witnesses. I felt my eyes begin to water. _Crap._ I had thought I cried the last tear out of my eyes when Sam left me for Emily, apparently I was wrong. This was worse. A hundred times worse. I'd rather take Sam leaving me a thousand times than this endless torment. A loved one leaving you? That was nothing compared to loving someone who would never love you. _Nothing._

I cried into the fluffy white pillow on the bed for what must have been hours. Only when I had cried to the point where I had no tears left did Seth come up to my room with a tray of delicious smelling food. But I just wasn't hungry.

"Jake told me about it," Seth said sadly, "I'm sorry…"

To my own surprise I leapt out of the bed and wrapped my arms around his neck, making him drop the tray of food he was holding, and found my tears again.

He, too, was surprised by my sudden action, but he played along, wrapping his arms around my back and letting me cry into his shoulder like the good brother he was. We stood there in silence, other than my rabid sobs over my horrible life, for what seemed like eons. And after I had thoroughly ruined his shirt and stopped crying, again, I let him go and sat back down on the bed.

"Sorry 'bout that…" my voice cracked, making me sound as pathetic as I felt.

"No," Seth sat down next to me, "you haven't cried since… then. And you have a good reason." He smiled his smile, one of the things I lived for, "plus, I needed a new shirt."

I laughed, more like choked and coughed at the same time.

"Sorry—" he cut me off.

"No more apologizing."

"Fine. I express my greatest distaste that I left you and Embry all alone."

"Left us alone? How?" he asked stupidly, sounding more like the little brother I knew him as.

"I imprinted."

"Oh…" he didn't expect that. "Oh! _Oh!_ Well... You… imprinted! On… on…," the realization hit him, ruining his jubilation and replacing it with shock. "Well… in this situation, I don't think either of us mind," he offered, pulling me onto his warm shoulder, reminding me of what Sam used to do when it rained, which was all the time.

"So how long was I out?" I tried to put on the tough act, for Seth if anything else.

"Only a few hours. Everyone but me went to go meet the parents. But I couldn't just leave you here all alone."

"How long was I here?" I asked, surprised.

"Since about three minutes after you passed out in the forest. Jake went looking for you, made me stay here."

Embarrassment mixed with anguish, creating an extremely painful combination.

"Can we get out of here? It stinks," I wanted to leave for more reasons than that, but he didn't need to know.

"Sure, I guess, but where do you want to go?"

_Anywhere but here,_ I wanted to answer but said instead, "howabout to the beach? We haven't gone swimming in ages." I tried to smile, I wasn't sure if it was a success or not.

"But it's raining…" he nodded towards the window, covered in raindrops.

"And since when has _rain_ stopped us from doing anything?"

Ten minutes later Seth and my miserable self were at the beach, changed and ready for a swim. _We must look insane_, I thought. After all, here we were, in La Push, grey skies and rain falling on us. The waves were small, rolling in on the hard packed, already soaked sand.

"You sure about this Lee?" Seth asked. He did have a point, the water looked _cold._ Not that I ever felt cold. Not since… since I turned into a monster.

"You chicken?" I mocked, knowing that would be enough to convince him.

"No!" he responded immediately, making him seem more like the young kid I knew before this world of monsters and mayhem was thrown on us.

"Then c'mon!" I said, faking another smile as I ran towards the crashing waves. He followed close behind, his feet making shallow footprints in the hard sand.

I stopped right before my knees went under water, leaving him to run ahead of me, face first into the waves.

"Hey!" he scrambled back to where I was in the shallow water. Suddenly I tasted salt in my mouth and expected to find tears on my cheeks, instead I was met with a face full of ocean water that Seth splashed in my direction.

"Ack!" I said spitting out the mouthful of overly salty, and not to mention freezing, water before splashing him back.

We continued our game of splash tag for the next hour. Seeing Seth's carefree smile was the highlight of my day. For him, this game was a way for him to forget what was going on in his life, it wasn't so simple for me. There was almost nothing, nothing that could make me completely forget. Completely forget Sam. Completely forget my dad. Completely forget _him._ Frick. I didn't even know his _name_. And yet, I knew he was the one I loved. We were enemies. And yet, I knew he was the one I've just been waiting for. God's game of life. Ha. So far, my game? It's sucked.

**A/N: Okay. So that was chapter 7. I decided to mix it up a bit and develop Leah's character a little more, I hope it's okay, it might be a little to angsty or a little to non-angsty, but I hope it works for you guys! Reviews are appreciated!!!! But please, if you have any flamers, find a more disciplined way to bash my writing, thanks! =D**


	8. Panic

**A/N: Again, I'm freakishly sorry for making you wait soooooooo extremely long for ANY chapters. I won't try to list excuses (trust me that would take a long time) so please don't be to angry with me, and I hope you enjoy!!! =D**

8. Panic

"What happened?" I asked Jake, panic consuming my emotions. Leah and I had never been real friends, but I was still worried about her, nonetheless.

"Calm down," Jake and Jasper said at the same time.

Jake threw an annoyed glance at Jasper and looked back at me. "I'm not sure, but Leah needs me right now, no matter how much she denies it. Would it be okay if I left for a little while?" he asked. I nodded, still somewhat shocked. With that he ran at an almost blinding speed into the forest.

I heard two sets of footsteps retreat towards the house. By the light pitter patter of one set, I assumed they belonged to Alice and Jasper.

"Renesmee?" my mother asked, suddenly in front of me, her voice was so musical sounding — like wind chimes. "Do you want us to stay here?" she asked, the worry in her voice almost masked from my detection.

I shook my head, "They'll need both of you inside," I suggested.

"Yes," my father answered, sitting on one of the large boulders in the shade, motioning for us to join him. "But you are more important."

I walked over to him at a regular pace. He motioned for me to sit on his lap, like I had done as a child. I complied. He wrapped his strong arms around my shoulders, like any good father would, as I leaned into hid shoulder.

Closing my eyes, I replied, "No. Right now Carlisle, Esme, and everyone else need you a lot more than me." I drew in a deep breath, catching the astonishingly wonderful aromas of my parents. My father's scent was strongest, as he was the closest to me. It was the smell of everything I loved — grass, trees, sunshine, rain, citrus, etc. — all mixed into one amazing, cohesive perfume. My mother had a very sweet floral scent. It reminded me of things that weren't physical in their forms. Things like love, life, happiness, and light. I knew it sounded very cliché, but that's what it was.

I relaxed completely. It had seemed like such a long time since I had last been able to be completely at peace. I knew I should be listening for signs of Jake, or how Luke and Raine were doing, what Carlisle was asking them. But I couldn't keep my thoughts in line. I vaguely noticed my mother's hand stroking my hair as I fell into a deep, peaceful sleep. Or so I thought.

_ I was standing alone in a green field, surrounded by trees. There was a light drizzle of rain. I inhaled, but could smell nothing, which scared me._

_ "Hello?" I asked quietly, not expecting a response._

_ "Renesmee!" I heard Luke's voice cry out, then a scream. _

_ "Luke! Luke!" I began to yell frantically. "Luke! Anyone!" tears streaked down my face, "Anyone, please! Where am I?" I whimpered as I fell to my knees. All alone, I though. I'm all alone here._

_ "No," a seductive, yet terrifying voice said from, apparently, nowhere. "I'm with you!" _

_Suddenly a crazed looking vampire appeared in front of me. It was a boy, about the age of a senior in high school. His dark hair fell around his face in a mess of tangles and waves. Violent blood red eyes stared down at me as a smile played across his lips, revealing… fangs._

_I tried to sniff the air, taste his scent. That would at least tell me if this anomaly was really a vampire or not. But my sense of smell had seemingly been disconnected from my mind. _

"_A treat…" he said, staring at me as he began to chuckle softly. "Who is this? A tasty little human?" His tongue flicked between his lips like a snake's. "No… you're not even human!" he screamed in outrage as he lunged towards my throat._

I bolted upright, relieved that I was, one, in my bedroom, and two, had my sense of smell back. I let out a sigh of relief just before I heard the cottage door slam open.

"Renesmee!" three people yelled, bursting into my room. My mother and Jake were on either side of me in an instant, while my father took the only available spot left at the foot of my bed.

My mother and Jake spoke simultaneously. "Are you okay?" my mother asked as Jake asked, "What happened?" My father remained silent, but there was one question in his eyes. _Who?_ I knew he saw the whole dream, he could read minds after all. I sighed again, causing a drop of cold sweat to fall off of my chin. I hadn't noticed before, but I was covered in sweat. _Great, _I thought.

"It's okay!" I defended, "I'm fine! Just a nightmare!" I knew the nightmare part was off, it was only about 2 o'clock according to the clock beside my bed.

"A very bad nightmare." My father corrected seriously, sending my mother into a state of panic, Jake remained silent.

I touched my mother's hand, _Calm down,_ I told both of them. _Actually, Jake, scratch that. If you're any calmer you'll be catatonic. _This made him smile, which immediately made me feel better.

"At least show me your dream?" my mother said, it sounded more like a question than a command.

I nodded and replayed the dream for both of them. When I opened my eyes I was met with two mortified faces. My father just happened to be a much better actor than my mother and Jake.

"Ohmigod," my mother said, pulling me into the tightest hug she would dare to give me. I was "breakable" to my parents, apparently.

"It's okay, it was just a dream," what I said and what I felt were very contradictory. Somehow I felt that my 'dream' was more of a warning, which was _not_ good.

_Don't tell her. _I thought, meaning for my father to hear, _She's worried enough. _I knew that she would most likely find out what I truly felt about the dream, but this way he would tone it down a little before he told her. I sighed inwardly.

"I'm going to go walk around outside for a little while, 'kay?" I asked as I squirmed my way out of the barricade of people

"I'll go with you," Jake said finally, and thankfully. I was flustered and was _definitely_ _not _ready to be alone.

"Thanks." I noticed that I was no longer in the clothes that I had worn to school.

I walked over to my dresser and found an outfit lying on top of it. _Alice…_ I thought. Well that would save me the trouble of finding something to wear.

I rushed into my bathroom and changed quickly.

"Nice," I said aloud as I saw what Alice had put together for me: a bright yellow ruffled tank-top and dark jeans. _Simple._

I tied my hair up, not wanting to have to brush it, as I walked back into my room.

"Ready," I said with a smile. Jake got up and took my hand as he led me out of the cottage.

We had just walked into the clearing when I saw Luke whisper something to Raine that none of us could hear, followed by Raine yelling "idiot!" before running off into the trees, followed by Luke.

There was no time to think, I reacted.

I sprinted after them. I ignored the branches and leaves tearing at my arms and face; I ignored the sting of the wind and the rain on my skin. I ran, letting instinct take over as I inhaled their scent and followed it.

Suddenly a realization hit me.

"Jake," I said, alarmed, "they're heading towards—"

"I know," he cut me off. I noticed he was running in human form, probably so he could communicate with me.

We both began to run faster, as fast as we could, but Luke and Raine were running at top speed as well, and, despite our best efforts, a gap remained between us.

After about a minute I could tell by the strength of the werewolves' scent that we were very, _very_, close to the border. Fear bubbled in the bottom of my stomach. It wasn't fear for myself, as an Imprint I had the right to cross over the border. I had gone over to the beach with Jake a few times during the week before school started. I was scared for Luke and Raine. They would definitely not be welcomed.

Suddenly I heard a snarl — a werewolf's — then a horrified shriek that I knew could only be Raine.

"_No!"_ I screamed and leapt forward as fast as I could, but Jake was faster. He pushed in front of me and skidded into the clearing, facing a huge brownish wolf next to a, larger still, black one. I heard a quiet whimper from behind him and turned my head towards the sound.

"Oh no…" I whispered as I saw the form of Raine, lying crumpled on the ground. She was crying dry vampire tears, her eyes showing pain and fear. Luke, standing behind her, remained frozen.

"Raine…" I heard him mutter.

"Damn it Paul!" I heard Jake yell, then a loud tearing sound. I spun, causing the greenery and trees to become a multicolored blur. I was relieved to see two wolves in the clearing, no missing body parts. Jake looked amazing as a wolf, but now was not the time to think about that.

He seemed to have the situation under control. I refocused my thoughts to Raine.

"Is she okay?" I asked Luke as I jogged to the spot where she lay.

"I think she'll be okay. He hurt her shoulder pretty bad, though," he motioned to her left shoulder, which looked oddly distorted.

"We need to take her to Carlisle," I said, trying not to betray my hysteria. I heard a crunch. Luke stood up in an invisible motion beside me, his eyes still locked on Raine.

It was then someone burst into the clearing. Leah had on a swimsuit and a beach towel. I wondered why. I hadn't had time to ask Jake what had happened to her.

I carefully studied her face, her expression of shock turned into that of absolute anger only a moment before she began to rattle off more profanities than I had ever learned in the direction of Paul and Sam. I could've sworn that when she looked back at us, she stared straight at Luke with a look in her eyes that I had never before seen. It was a look of, of course worry, but it resembled the kinds of looks I always got from, well, Jake.

**Leah POV**

I ran in human form, some little voice in my head told me that it was a wise choice. Oh great. Now I was listening to voices in my head. Lovely.

Suddenly I heard a girls scream from ahead. Simply put, I ran faster.

I burst into the clearing to be met with a very unwelcome sight. Two wolves were in the clearing, Jake and Paul. Sam was in human form, looking angry. I looked to the opposite side and my heart began to race.

Standing with an expression of horror and concern plastered on his face was him. Excuse my lack of a name. Automatically, I felt that tug at me to go and comfort him. I felt the corners of my mouth turn down at his furrowed eyebrows and the concern emanating from his eyes. He was chewing his bottom lip with his porcelain teeth, his lips in an identical twin frown with mine. I followed his gaze and the hairs on the back of my neck began to prickle. Jake's imprint, the half leech, half human, Renesmee Cullen was there, leaning over a crumpled figure. A girl, to be more precise, hidden by a curtain of the half-leech's bronze hair. It took a moment for me to recognize her as his sister.

No. I thought. Hell no.

That was it. I scowled as I stalked into the middle of the clearing. Holding my arms out in the classic protective posture, I alternated between glaring at Paul and Sam. I could hear Jake's low growl from behind me; at least I had one supporter. Huh. I sensed something odd bubbling in my gut, control. Despite my utter lack of grip on the situation, I had some odd feeling of command over those in the clearing. It was either that, or I just had way too much adrenaline at the moment.

"Paul! Sam!" I started, my tone ruthless, "what in the hell possessed you to attack her?!" I motioned to her. As if on cue, she whimpered again, a spasm running through her limbs.

Apparently my question sounded rhetorical. No answer came.

Paul and Sam ran into the forest. They returned a little less than a minute later with scowls mimicking my own on their faces.

"The bloodsucker came on our land," Paul spat.

"Yeah? By what? Three inches?" I said, making note of the fact that even where I was standing was still the leech's territory.

"He—" Sam started, but I cut him off.

"No." I said sternly, "You attacked two innocent vamps. For all you know, they might've been trying to get to know where the border is. You just went and assumed that they were here to kill everyone, you half-baked idiots! Just like your stereotypical versions of them. So just leave us alone. Go run off to Emily's house, and eat some dinner. 'Kay?" I knew that what I had said was blunt, but I didn't care. Since when had I?

I turned around and sheepishly smiled at my extraordinary imprint. Hey, I hadn't smiled like that in years. I couldn't even remember when I had last flirted… He was bringing out the old Leah, I realized with a jolt. Maybe it was a good thing. Maybe not.

I used a kind, coaxing tone, "You can leave now, …" I trailed off. I still didn't know his name.

"Luke," he stated in his remarkable melodic voice. He gingerly picked up his sister and jogged away from the clearing, followed closely by Renesmee.

Jake stayed for a moment, giving me a cautious look. "Go ahead," I told him, and he followed his imprint as well as mine.

Sam opened his mouth to speak. I spoke instead.

"I helped them because I imprinted on one of them. Kay? Got it? Good. Bye." I said curtly, with a cruel smirk on my face. I wanted Sam to feel pain, even if he had his imprint with him. I wanted him to know I moved on, and he'll most probably, never see me again. I could live the rest of my life without him. I knew it inside of me, and I knew I deserved it. I deserved freedom. I phased and ran, not caring about the swimsuit I had just destroyed. I ran towards the mountains, mentally yelling at Jake to just leave me alone this time. I wasn't the caged bird anymore, taunted and tormented by freedom lying so close, but so near at the same time. I had cut the very last strings that tied me to Sam. I was free. But yet, I still had other issues to deal with. I continued running towards the mountains, air whipping around my warm fur.

Luke, that was his name. I liked it.

**Renesmee POV**

The run back to the mansion was just as nerve-racking as the first. My gaze was locked on Luke, holding Raine's limp figure. Just then I noticed something; it had begun to rain again.

Rhythmic paw steps padded through the underbrush behind me. I knew who it was, but instinct told my head to turn, and so it did.

Jake's russet fur glittered where the raindrops had landed on his fur, creating an effect that reminded me of pine needles. I began to loose my thoughts in it's beauty, but a whimper pulled me back out of my reverie.

"Raine…" I heard Luke mutter under his breath, only moments before we careened into the clearing. Carlisle, Alice, and my parents were already waiting outside, anxiety apparent in their faces.

Without a word Carlisle moved with speed only a very skilled vampire could achieve towards Luke and Raine. Raine looked pale, even for a vampire. Luke handed her over to Carlisle without hesitation. Apparently he knew about Carlisle's medical background.

Carlisle went into the house followed by Alice.

My mother immediately sprinted up to me and engulfed me in a hug.

"Don't ever do that again!" she reprimanded, but the relief in her voice was evident. "You scared me to death!"

"Well, technically," Jake entered the clearing with a smirk, "you're already dead."

"Shut up, Jake," my mother said mockingly but with a bright smile.

I noticed that my father hadn't said anything. He was just standing in the middle of the yard with his eyes closed. His expression was slightly contorted and made him look like he was deep in thought.

My mother and Jake had noticed this too, as they were both staring at him.

Suddenly his eyes flew open and centered on Jake and I.

His tone was pensive, "You have something to say."

**A/N: Hope you liked it!!! Again, sorry about the wait!! Reviews are loved!!! 3 =D**


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